INVESTIGATION RHIANON HOWELLS » CONSULTING EDITOR » SPA BUSINESS
REALTY CHECK R
esidential spa commu- nities have been a hot topic in the global well- ness industry ever since operator Canyon Ranch
unveiled its seminal ‘Living’ concept in 2003. And in the wake of this news, a flurry of other developments were announced: several more high-profile operators revealed plans for wellness communities in the US, while substan- tial spa facilities swiſtly became must-have amenities for luxury real estate developers the world over. However, the spa/real estate love affair – in the US, at least – hit
the rocks when the world was plunged into financial crisis. By the time Arizona-based destination spa operator Miraval and New York developer River Terrace Apartments announced the end of their partnership – for the Miraval Living condominium development – last October it had long been over. Although, it should be noted that New York-based operator American Leisure has since taken over the Miraval development, which has been renamed 515East72. Even before the inaugural Canyon Ranch project opened in Miami
Beach in 2008, the company’s plans for two other Living projects – in Bethesda, near Washington DC, and Chicago – had been cancelled, while last year the Miami-based Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa also shelved plans for a Pritikin Living development in Houston,
As the global economy recovers from financial crisis, we ask what the future holds for the spa living sector in the US – where the trend began and where it’s suffered some of the greatest losses – and touch upon what’s happening elsewhere in the world
Texas. Tose projects that have opened in the last three years – including Clinique La Prairie Lifestyle Residences at Ten Museum Park, Miami, and Cooper Life at Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas – have done so in a very challenging marketplace. Te fate of these projects might not be indica-
tive of all residential models with spa elements in the US – urban apartment blocks with scaled-down fitness or spa facilities and golf communities with built-in spas appear to have done better – or indeed developments in other parts of the world. However, it’s to be noted that more substantial spa real estate projects have certainly suffered a dramatic fall from grace, with the US market, as a pioneer in this field, inevitably one of the hardest hit. However, along with the stirrings of economic recovery, there are
some early signs that the spa real estate trend is by no means dead in the water – in the US or elsewhere in the world. Canyon Ranch is already moving ahead with an international rollout of its Living brand, a residential development from UK health-resort operator Champneys is set for a 2012 opening in Marbella, Spain (see p34) and other projects across the globe are successfully mixing real estate with significant spa offerings in different guises: Four Seasons and Six Senses are just two operators that can testify to this (see p33). But how much potential does this sector really have, given its dif-
ficult last few years? Will the obstacles it’s encountered disappear as the housing and financial markets stabilise, or is it a trend ahead of its time, a fact the economic crisis has simply thrown into relief? Which models have proved the most resilient and offer the most opportunity for growth? And while the US has been the leader in the sector to date, what’s going on in other markets elsewhere?
Canyon Ranch is already moving ahead with an international rollout of its Living brand, despite two US sites being cancelled in 2008
30 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
Living the dream Given the difficulties experienced by the Canyon Ranch Living and Miraval Living projects in the US, Susie Ellis, president of media and marketing company SpaFinder, is unsure whether there’s sufficient
SPA BUSINESS 1 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
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