Converse to welcome Planet Fitness location by year’s end

Converse will be home to the Metrocom’s second Planet Fitness by the end of 2022, according to Converse Economic Development Corporation officials.

The EDC announced Jan. 31 that TJ Elite Properties LLC will be constructing an 18,000 square-foot building in line with Big Lots, at Lott’s Landing on FM 78, that will be home to a Planet Fitness facility — the second in the Metrocom, to the gym on Pat Booker Road in Universal City.

“Today we celebrate a great win and welcome to Team Converse our newest business member, Planet Fitness,” said Jimsi Kuborn, Converse EDC executive director. “TJ Elite, Troy and Jamie Lott, are vital partners to the success of Converse. They have believed in this community for many years and we look forward to their continued developments in our community.”

Troy Lott shared his thoughts about TJ Elite’s efforts, which has developed more commercial facilities than any other entity in Converse.

“It is a momentous day to make this announcement,” Lott said. “We have been in one-on-one conversations with Planet Fitness for some time, and the EDC has also been able to share the city’s attributes and exponential growth with corporate and real estate contracts via trade shows.”

Troy and Jamie Lott founded TJ Elite Properties in 2004 to “create a new standard of excellence for the Converse commercial real estate market,” as stated in a Converse EDC press release.

The Planet Fitness facility should be ready by December 2022, Kuborn said. “(Troy Lott) has to deliver the building in September so they can put all that equipment inside. He’s already pulling permits.”

Kuborn said housing and business growth around the city has allowed it to reach out to larger, more name-recognizable businesses that 10 or 15 years ago, would never have considered Converse as a destination.

“I think when we continue to bring in these corporate recognizable names, with McAlister’s (Deli) and Planet Fitness and QT, there’s so much more buzz happening, we anticipate more,” she said.

“We’re working on some things that you hear about all the time on social media, ‘Why can’t we have this,’ or ‘why can’t we have that’” she said. “We’re working on all of that, and this (Planet Fitness announcement) helps.”

Kuborn said the average home price in Converse, according to SABOR, has topped $200,000. “Our median income has raised, our traffic count is rising — That’s our responsibility, to be out there continually having these conversations with people.”

She said it’s the EDC’s charge to promote the city’s population growth to highlight Converse as an untapped market for retail, restaurant, hospitality and commercial developments.

“One of the things we do for EDC is we’re always out there trying to highlight what’s going on in Converse, because data is not always up to date,” she said, adding, “(National data reports) are not always up to date and they’re not always the best picture, because we’re growing so fast.”

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