Midtown Athletic Club 2.0: ‘An important part of a well-lived day’

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In business, you either adapt and transform or stagnate and wither away.

Which is why Midtown Athletic Club has undergone a renovation of between $12 million and $13 million, giving members a host of boutique workout studios to complement tennis and swimming. The club, which opened in Rochester in 1972, has no intention of falling by the wayside.

“We’ve had to continually reinvent ourselves,” said Steven Schwartz, CEO of Midtown Athletic Clubs, which operates eight facilities in four states as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. “This addition is really the latest and greatest concept you could get today.”

Midtown Athletic Clubs began as tennis destinations, with Schwartz’s father, Alan, launching the business in 1970 in Chicago as Midtown Tennis. They shifted to total fitness in 1988. Now, in an attempt to remain not just relevant but also revered, Midtown in Rochester on East Highland Drive has been revamped.

There are six boutique studios — the Arena, EverybodyFights, The Field, Ride, Samadhi and Theater — plus a cardio floor with 77 machines, eight indoor tennis courts and nine outdoor clay courts, indoor basketball, four platform tennis courts, an outdoor pool, a spa, a bistro and a dining/conversing/reading/co-work/a-little-of-everything area.

“You’ve got it all, plus your friends,” Schwartz said. “You’re not going to find a nicer club east of the Mississippi; not in New York, not in Boston, not in Miami.

“We have high-end boutique studios with tennis, the hospitality element and the social environment. It’s a natural third place to go after home and office.”

Midtown memberships start at $177 per month for individuals, and include nearly all services that club offers (Pilates is extra). That’s essentially the cost of five visits to other workout studios, all under one roof, general manager Chrissy Gawens said.

“Everybody comes here for a different reason,” Gawens said. “They don’t just come for a fitness goal. They come to transfer or enhance a facet of their life.”

Said Glenn William, a part owner in the Rochester club: “We cater to the crowd that doesn’t want the golf, that doesn’t want the snob.”

The first major remake for Midtown Athletic Clubs was of the flagship branch in Chicago in 2017. Rochester is the second to undergo renovation.

“We had to decide, ‘Do we do a facelift or do we go all the way?’ ” Schwartz said.

The answer was to go all-in, in part because of the new $40 million Pittsford YMCA. The club did receive just over $500,000 in tax incentives from Monroe County, with the creation of 30 new jobs part of the tradeoff.

There’s more than just physical fitness at the new club. There are socialization areas and plenty of space to work or just relax.

“We’re blurring lines,” Schwartz said. “It’s the new way to spend your important time. There’s exercise, which is very important. You see friends, which is very important. And you can get a little work done and get something to eat, so what is it all called?

“At Midtown, we call it an important part of a well-lived day.”

And it’s all done in a fresh-air environment. Even before renovation, Midtown installed the airPHX sanitization units, which kill germs in the air and on surfaces, and also eliminate the odors often (always?) prevalent in fitness or workout studios.

“If a club doesn’t smell great, it’s not a great experience,” Schwartz said. “I found the concept at a remote booth at a trade show. They were trying to sell to health care facilities, ICUs, places with immune-suppressed environments and health clubs.”

The airPHX system is highly effective against COVID-19, killing up to 98.2 percent of germs throughout the day and 99.9 percent overnight, according to data from the club.

“When they told me they were installing it, they said, ‘If we ever have a pandemic, we need to assure our members and staff that we have the safest air,’ ” William said. “That’s how forward-thinking this company is.”

And it is another indication Midtown Athletic Clubs won’t get left behind.

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