WICKER PARK — In July, a New York-based fitness franchise, I Love Kickboxing, plans to open its first Chicago site inside a 3,707 square-foot storefront at the base of a new North Avenue condo building in Wicker Park/Bucktown, it was announced Wednesday.
Located at 1720 W. North Ave., the group fitness gym, which combines cardio and resistance training in short interval bursts over an hour-long workout, is owned by franchisee Dennis de Ramos, who started another I Love Kickboxing location in Aurora last year.
"We love the Bucktown area due to the age and physical activity of the residents. We also felt that this area has been overlooked for this type of fitness," said de Ramos, who described kickboxing as a way to feed off of other people's energy and reduce stress.
De Ramos said that the gym's coed workouts utilize high-intensity interval training as students punch and kick onto standing heavy bags rather than hanging bags.
There are 32 bags in the room and class capacity is 64. Ramos is planning to hire 10 workers and instructors to staff the spot, he said.
The exercise room, with a black and red color scheme, is designed in a minimalist style and uses hypo-allergenic rubber, according to the franchise's website.
"It doesn't smell like a gym. There is no fighting. You are punching a bag," de Ramos said.
Based in Merrick, New York, I Love Kickboxing runs dozens of locations throughout the U.S., Canada and Peru. It was developed by martial arts instructor Michael Parrella in 2009, who began to franchise the concept in 2012.
For a pre-opening rate, I Love Kickboxing is offering a 3-pack of classes for $9.99, along with pink gloves for the first 50 people who sign up, according to its Facebook page.
Broker Andrea Miller, who helped to bring I Love Kickboxing aboard, said the gym selected the spot above a new 17-unit luxury condo building at the northeast corner of Hermitage and North avenues in part because of the proximity to the eastern end of The 606's Bloomingdale Trail, about a two block walk south.
"They want their clients to walk or bike to the gym and will be installing bike racks on the front or sides of the building," Miller said.
Once open, I Love Kickboxing will join several other franchised gyms within a few blocks of North Avenue, east of the Milwaukee and Damen avenues intersection.
Orangetheory debuted last year inside of a 4,000-square-foot storefront at 1634 W. North Ave., replacing the shuttered ABC Daycare. At 1837 W. North, there's Pure Barre Fitness, which opened in 2013. And Lakeshore Sport & Fitness recently bought Cheetah Gym. 1934 W. North Ave.
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