For $280 a month, you can join country club, spa opening at Kendall’s Falls Mall

Rebecca San Juan
·3 min read

On Wednesday afternoon featuring South Florida’s usual summer rain and thunder, teenagers roamed the nearly barren open-air Falls shopping mall in Kendall. Adults were congregated at the sales center for the mall’s newest addition, Life Time.

It’s a 3-story country club and spa opening Friday. Adult members who plunk down almost $280 a month can swim laps in a saltwater pool, play pickleball, get a skin or nail treatment, hang at the beach club and eat breakfast or lunch at the cafe — and much more. Or people can buy a $75 daily club pass and try a yoga or cycle class, or do weight training. There’s also a kids academy with activities and sports for children from three months old to 12, and it’s a $100 month for youngsters to become club members.

The health club, fitness and pampering oasis replaced the famed Bloomingdale’s department store that closed three years ago after 35 years at the mall on 8888 SW 136th St.

Life Time, which has South Florida locations in Coral Gables and Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, usually draws 5,000 to 7,000 members at each club, said Stephen Datte, senior general manager of The Falls location.

“We saw the ability for filling a gap in this area,” Datte said. “There is a need in this market for this kind of country club experience in this area. we saw it. sure enough the community is reacting and letting us know we were right.”

Adult members who plunk down $279 a month can swim laps in a saltwater pool, play pickleball, get a skin or nail treatment, hang at the beach club and eat breakfast or lunch at the cafe — and much more. Above: Pilates and Barre studios inside Life Time at The Falls.
Adult members who plunk down $279 a month can swim laps in a saltwater pool, play pickleball, get a skin or nail treatment, hang at the beach club and eat breakfast or lunch at the cafe — and much more. Above: Pilates and Barre studios inside Life Time at The Falls.

Life Time signed a lease deal with mall owner Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group in 2020, after Bloomingdale’s closed its doors. Along with still-standing Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s had been the mall’s other retail anchor for three decades. Life Time demolished the old department store building and spent $55 million at the site to add the country club.

The club and spa has a floor full of workout equipment and rooms dedicated to today’s trendiest sports — pickleball, yoga, pilates, rock climbing, plus squash, basketball, racquetball, and more. There’s also a salon, spa, indoor saltwater lap pool and outdoor pool with two water slides. Busy bees can bring their work, taking a spot at one of the co-working tables. Parents can drop off their kids at a childcare center offering language classes, tutoring, sporting activities, and arts and crafts.

Life Time Kids, located inside the Life Time center at The Falls, offers a range of activities, including a basketball court and climbing wall, pictured above.
Life Time Kids, located inside the Life Time center at The Falls, offers a range of activities, including a basketball court and climbing wall, pictured above.

The Falls lucked out, said Holly Cohen who runs her own retail real estate advisory firm and is incoming 2024 president of the Miami chapter of the professional commercial real estate organization Commercial Real Estate Women Network.

“[Retail] anchors to me are no longer the ones who drive traffic. In a good shopping center, you have an outdoor environment, it’s fun to go to, and you’re going for the variety.” Cohen said. “You’re going for the restaurants. You’re not going for the Macy’s.”

Life Time members have access to co-working spaces, pictured above, within the 120,000-square-foot center.
Life Time members have access to co-working spaces, pictured above, within the 120,000-square-foot center.

Life Time had managed apartment rentals in Coral Gables near the Douglas Road Metrorail station in its namesake building, as well as a gym and health club. The apartment rentals got transferred to national real estate developer Hines during the pandemic.

The South Florida country clubs are among the 165 health clubs Life Time operates in the United States and Canada. In a few years, it plans to open another one somewhere in Miami-Dade County.

Carol Cox, general manager of The Falls, said recent restaurant additions and an escape center have helped boost foot traffic and she’s counting on the Life Time club to draw more residents and tourists to the mall.