Health Club News ….YMCA to close Health Club Facility

The YMCA of Columbia-Willamette is closing its Beaverton Family gym, after the site’s property owner dropped a $1.5 million lawsuit and reached a settlement with the nonprofit. The Beaverton Family site at 4925 S.W. Griffith Drive will close July 29, according to a statement from Bruce Patton, the nonprofit’s vice president.
Starting Aug. 1, gym membership, group exercise programs and older adult programs will be transferred to the Beaverton Hoop YMCA at 9685 S.W. Harvest Court, according to a memo sent out to gym members, volunteers and staff.
The announcement comes nearly a year after Tami Pardee, co-owner of the property with her husband Michael Pardee, filed a lawsuit claiming that the nonprofit broke its lease agreement. In the lawsuit, Tami Pardee alleged that the nonprofit tried to persuade Beaverton Family members to join the Hoop location – when, according to the agreement, it was supposed to return club membership to Pardee once the 10-year lease expired in 2013 – and failed to repair or replace equipment. Pardee and the YMCA reached a settlement after Pardee identified a buyer for the property, which has an assessed value of $3,249,830, according to Washington County assessment and taxation records. The price of the sale – which the memo says is “imminent” – and the name of the buyer are unknown. “We made a reasonable settlement regarding both the balance of the lease obligation and the facility maintenance,” Patton said in a statement. Patton would not disclose the remaining balance to be paid or how much maintenance would cost the nonprofit, only that the nonprofit’s financial obligations to Pardee end Aug. 31, 2011. The new owner plans to remodel the building and reopen fall 2012, Patton said. When the Beaverton Family gym reduced hours and cut services last fall, some members dropped their affiliation and a high school racquetball team scrambled to find a gym for practice.
Besides the Beaverton clubs, the YMCA also manages fitness centers, camps and youth sports in Portland, Vancouver, Gresham and Sherwood. Pardee, who lives in California, bought the health club from her father, who opened it in 1978. Calls were left with Pardee and her attorney for comment.
— Dominique Fong
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Health Club News….Former Peak Fitness Executives Charged with Fraud

Jeffrey Stec and Kenneth Handley, former executives of the bankrupt Peak Fitness club chain, have been charged with commercial loan fraud and money laundering conspiracy, the Charlotte Observer reports. Stec, who owned Peak Fitness, and Handley, who was the company’s chief financial officer, fraudulently obtained loans from Wells Fargo and Wachovia, loans that ended up costing the banking institutions almost $2 million combined, according to court documents filed in an indictment on Monday. Prosecutors say Stec and Handley wanted to purchase a condo on Isle of Palms, SC, for $915,000, and the money from a $590,000 commercial loan from Wachovia obtained in 2007 was diverted into Handley’s personal bank account, the newspaper reports. Handley later was approved for an $856,000 loan from Wells Fargo, most of which was transferred back into business accounts, the indictment says.
Stec also obtained three more loans from Wachovia in 2007 and 2008 totaling $3.8 million. The loans allegedly were intended to build or upgrade clubs in Winston-Salem, NC; Kingsport, TN; and Danville, VA, but the money was diverted to other purposes, according to the Observer. Prosecutors claim Wells Fargo lost about $230,000 and Wachovia about $1.7 million. Stec sold Fitness Management Group, the parent company of Peak Fitness, in 2007 and bought it back the following year. He also owned Peak Performance Motorsports, which he used for NASCAR competition, according to the indictment. Fitness Management Group filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Nevada-based Fuzion Investment Capital LLC bought the assets of Peak Fitness out of bankruptcy and later added Allstate Financial Group, Bothell, WA, as an investor. The former Peak Fitness clubs that remained in operation were changed to ZX Fitness. Last month, ZX Fitness closed three clubs in South Carolina.

Health Club News….Former Peak Fitness Executives Charged with Fraud

Jeffrey Stec and Kenneth Handley, former executives of the bankrupt Peak Fitness club chain, have been charged with commercial loan fraud and money laundering conspiracy, the Charlotte Observer reports. Stec, who owned Peak Fitness, and Handley, who was the company’s chief financial officer, fraudulently obtained loans from Wells Fargo and Wachovia, loans that ended up costing the banking institutions almost $2 million combined, according to court documents filed in an indictment on Monday. Prosecutors say Stec and Handley wanted to purchase a condo on Isle of Palms, SC, for $915,000, and the money from a $590,000 commercial loan from Wachovia obtained in 2007 was diverted into Handley’s personal bank account, the newspaper reports. Handley later was approved for an $856,000 loan from Wells Fargo, most of which was transferred back into business accounts, the indictment says.
Stec also obtained three more loans from Wachovia in 2007 and 2008 totaling $3.8 million. The loans allegedly were intended to build or upgrade clubs in Winston-Salem, NC; Kingsport, TN; and Danville, VA, but the money was diverted to other purposes, according to the Observer. Prosecutors claim Wells Fargo lost about $230,000 and Wachovia about $1.7 million. Stec sold Fitness Management Group, the parent company of Peak Fitness, in 2007 and bought it back the following year. He also owned Peak Performance Motorsports, which he used for NASCAR competition, according to the indictment. Fitness Management Group filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Nevada-based Fuzion Investment Capital LLC bought the assets of Peak Fitness out of bankruptcy and later added Allstate Financial Group, Bothell, WA, as an investor. The former Peak Fitness clubs that remained in operation were changed to ZX Fitness. Last month, ZX Fitness closed three clubs in South Carolina.

Health Club News…Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering.

HOUSTON — Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering, raising the amount from three investors. The owner and operator of 15 Fitness Connection health clubs in Raleigh, N.C., Reno, Nevada, and Houston, Texas is backed by WestView Capital Partners, a $500 million private equity fund based in Boston, and National City Equity Partners, a Cleveland based private equity fund.Executives and directors named in an SEC filing disclosing the capital raise include:

– Jeffrey Skeen, CEO
– A.J. Mushtaq, CFO
– Aaron Lieberman, CDO
– Dal Clayton, COO
– Josh Harwood, SVP
– John Turner from Boston-based WestView Capital Partners
– Matthew Carroll from WestView Capital Partners
– Richard Williams from WestView Capital Partners
– Steve Pattison from Cleveland-based National City Equity Partners

Prior to forming Titan Fitness, Skeen was a principal and the CEO of Titan Management Solutions (TMS), where he worked with Gold’s Gym franchisees in opening and operating gyms throughout the U.S. Before that, Skeen was a principal and CIO of Gold’s Gym International for four years.Headquartered in McLean, Va., Titan creates, acquires, and operate health clubs and says that it intends to purchase health club chains with strong management teams in place that have a focus on growth. Titan says that it will provide the processes, systems and tools for each regional management team to operate as fitness franchise in their respective markets.Earlier this month, Gold’s Gym International announced that it has agreed to part ways with Titan Fitness.
By Brian Wolak

Health Club News…Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering.

HOUSTON — Titan Fitness has completed a $4.6 million equity offering, raising the amount from three investors. The owner and operator of 15 Fitness Connection health clubs in Raleigh, N.C., Reno, Nevada, and Houston, Texas is backed by WestView Capital Partners, a $500 million private equity fund based in Boston, and National City Equity Partners, a Cleveland based private equity fund.Executives and directors named in an SEC filing disclosing the capital raise include:

– Jeffrey Skeen, CEO
– A.J. Mushtaq, CFO
– Aaron Lieberman, CDO
– Dal Clayton, COO
– Josh Harwood, SVP
– John Turner from Boston-based WestView Capital Partners
– Matthew Carroll from WestView Capital Partners
– Richard Williams from WestView Capital Partners
– Steve Pattison from Cleveland-based National City Equity Partners

Prior to forming Titan Fitness, Skeen was a principal and the CEO of Titan Management Solutions (TMS), where he worked with Gold’s Gym franchisees in opening and operating gyms throughout the U.S. Before that, Skeen was a principal and CIO of Gold’s Gym International for four years.Headquartered in McLean, Va., Titan creates, acquires, and operate health clubs and says that it intends to purchase health club chains with strong management teams in place that have a focus on growth. Titan says that it will provide the processes, systems and tools for each regional management team to operate as fitness franchise in their respective markets.Earlier this month, Gold’s Gym International announced that it has agreed to part ways with Titan Fitness.
By Brian Wolak

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