The city has seen a wave of announcements for new sauna and spa concepts.
The most recent is Lore, a so-called “bath club” in Noho that opened last month.
At the same time, Othership, whose Flatiron location offers both classes and raves, opened its Williamsburg location.
Williamsburg’s Bathhouse, where the pools are heated by crypto mining, and the lawyers have assured the public that this water DO NOT give UTIs to peopleopened its Flatiron location last year.
Not to be outdone, Kith Ivy, a padel club of the streetwear brand, plans to nestle a cold dip, sauna and jacuzzi between the Erewhon tonic bar and the Giorgio Armani brand’s dressing room.
Remedy Place, which bills itself as a “social wellness club,” started in West Hollywood but opened its third location in Soho in November.
Finally, sauna concept Saint plans to open this fall in MAG Partners’ Ruby residential building on West 29th Street.
It’s fair to say that Manhattan had its fair share of saunas even before this most recent wave: Koreatown’s many spas, the Russian and Turkish baths, your everyday Equinox locker room.
And before that, there were gay bathhouses, although most of them were closed by the city in the 1980s in a controversial effort to stop the spread of HIV.
But these new sauna concepts seem to be trying something different: marketing these locations as a place to socialize. This is a reversal of more traditional sauna etiquette, which requires only quiet conversations.
The idea is that people want a place where they can meet others, where they aren’t drinking or on their phones. Why not in a bathing suit, dripping with sweat?
At Othership there are group sauna classes to facilitate that connection.
“No matter how long you stay in that ice bath, you’re doing it with people you’ve never met before,” says Cassie Durand, an executive vice president at CBRE who works with Othership’s expansion locations. “You are instantly connected, you immediately feel a sense of satisfaction that is a shared activity.”
Lore has also tried to play its role as a potential ‘third space’. At Remedy Place and Kith Ivy, a social club is baked into the offering.
(The exception to this is Saint, which offers private sauna studios, explaining: “In an age of ‘social saunas’ we hope to offer something different: quiet moments of solitude.”)
The interest in saunas and cold plunges appears to be national, Durand said. Home saunas are booming among homebuyers with higher prices across the country, according to the New York Times reported. So it makes sense that New Yorkers, accustomed to apartment living, would turn to more public options.
And there’s a broader interest in boutique health and wellness across the city, as the Real Estate Board of New York noted in a recent retail report.
“It illustrates how formative COVID was in terms of awareness of self-care and mental well-being,” said Keith DeCoster, vice president of research at REBNY.
However, there are obstacles to building these sauna and cold plunge locations from a real estate perspective.
“You’re dealing with small pools, tons of power, and objectively challenging infrastructure requirements combined with code,” Durand said. Part of the reason these companies, including Othership, cluster in Flatiron, she said, is that the area has appeal to the residential, office and tourism markets.
So come on in, the water is ice cold.
What we’re thinking about: Private equity owners have been entering New York’s multifamily market for some time. But what are they like as landlords? Well-capitalized stewards? Negligent bad actors? Send me a message: lilah.burke@therealdeal.com.
Something we learned: You can integrate a sign as a commercial condo unit, as illustrated by this week’s $12 million sale of a Times Square billboard. Vornado previously secured a $407 million loan, partially backed by a six-story billboard at the Marriott Marquis.
Elsewhere
– House Minority Leader and Brooklyn voter Hakeem Jeffries has offered a last-minute endorsement to Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “Zohran Mamdani has been relentlessly focused on addressing the affordability crisis and has explicitly committed to being mayor for all New Yorkers, including those who do not support his candidacy,” Jeffries said in a statement.
– New York State Attorney General Letitia James today pleaded not guilty to mortgage fraud charges, Politico reported.
— The new 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes comes into effect today. Enthusiasts of CitiBike’s “White Stallion” e-bike are not satisfied, the Times reported.
Closing time
Residential: The highest residential deal recorded on Friday was $36 million for 10 East 67th Street. The Lenox Hill mansion is 13,000 square feet. It last sold on the market in 2006 for $28.5 million. Serhants Melissa Post and Ryan Serhant have the entry.
Commercial: The best recorded commercial deal was $6.1 million for 96 South 9th Street. The Williamsburg Church is three stories and 3,400 square feet.
New on the market: The highest price for a home to hit the market was $5.8 million for 720 West End Avenue, Unit 11C. The Upper West Side apartment is a new development and 2,300 square feet. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group has the entry.
— Joseph Jungerman
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