This week Karve opened in Victoria – the third location for the premium pilates studio that offers its clients everything from classes and coffee to a strong community.

Karve are my client within the tenant rep team, and I acted to bring them to Victoria. Other recent wellness operators the BGP team have brought to destinations across London and the UK include award winning fitness studio Blok, contrast therapy specialist Arc, smoothie brand Elevate, all Barry’s Bootcamp sites in London and throughout the UK and the sought after Marchon gym that opened in Victoria last month. What does that tell us? Well, apart from the fact that BGP has some amazing clients…..! It shows that wellness is no longer an add on to placemaking schemes. In fact in many mixed use developments; wellness businesses are becoming the anchor.

When it comes to London leasing, BGP was ahead of the wellness trend. We advised on some of the first and most progressive wellness tenant mixes, including the first ‘skyscraper gym’ within a building, BXR at 22 Bishopsgate as well as the first wellness village in London, Eccleston Yards established over 5 years ago.

Wellness operators, from gyms and strength studios to smoothie bars and saunas, are now a key element when creating a place that people want to travel to. They bring footfall daily, and – unlike dining consistently throughout the day, evening and weekends, while increasing dwell time. They create a community. In BGP’s recent panel discussion “How Well is Retail”, featuring White Rabbit and contrast therapy operator Arc Community CEO Chris Miller, he explained that the idea of Arc was as much about creating a community as a wellness concept. After all, the statistics on the lack of alcoholic drinks in young people speak for themselves – the pub is no longer the default place to meet and socialise, particularly for Gen Z. Instead, wellness studios and cafes are leaping into the (alcohol free) mixer. Gym and fitness concepts have proved incredibly good at creating these incredibly engaged communities, both online and in person – they have Instagram friendly studios, strong ‘community’ messaging and meet ups and events that extend far beyond the actual gym class.

The opportunity this presents for landlords is clear. Selecting a strong wellness operator for a scheme will help build long term loyalty for a destination and strong local engagement; while bringing 24/7 footfall to neighbouring businesses at the same time. Wellness is no longer an afterthought for landlords – its part of a habitual human lifestyle change. It’s a day to day essential for customers that is changing the way we approach placemaking.