Earlier this month, the Cleveland YMCA broke ground on their highly anticipated new space in the Galleria. The Parker Hannifin Downtown Y is slated to open in February 2016.

"We had about 85 come to the groundbreaking," says Rick Haase, vice president of marketing for the YMCA of Cleveland.

Haase notes the timing of the project, which coincides with a staggering boom in downtown residential growth. He cites Downtown Cleveland Alliance's 2014 fourth quarter market update (p. 10), which estimates more than 25,000 people will be living downtown by 2022 -- up from 13,300 in 2014.

Considering that and the population of daily downtown commuters, the organization hopes to double the current membership of its 2200 Prospect Avenue location, which numbers nearly 3,250.

"Our current location at East 22^nd and Prospect is, quite honestly, a little bit off beaten path," says Haase. Cleveland State University (CSU) owns that building, which was built in 1911 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Floors 2 through 8 are dedicated to CSU student housing, with the YMCA's fitness center on the first floor. The YMCA also has offices on the first and ninth floors. All of the YMCA's functions will eventually move to the Galleria.

The new two-story 40,000-square-foot YMCA will occupy what was formerly retail space in the gleaming mall. Amenities will include a three-lane lap pool, sauna and steam rooms, approximately 75 cardio and 25 weight training machines, a spinning studio, three group exercise studios (one of which will accommodate hot yoga) and two massage therapy rooms. Haase says pre-sales are tentatively planned for this summer, six months in advance of the grand opening.

"There will be special rates for those join early," he says, adding that a pre-sale office in the Galleria is a possibility. "There will very likely be a corporate rate as well." Packages for the area's hotels are also on the horizon.

The total project budget is just over $12 million. Parker Hannifin is one of the private donors on the project. Werner Minshall, owner of the Galleria, donated the space, which translated into a $2.7 million gift. The organization expects to employee 39 full- and part-time workers at the new facility with a payroll of about $1.1 million over the first two years of operation.

The project is expected to create about 100 construction jobs and generate $7.9 million in tax revenue from new construction and labor costs. Moody Nolan is the architect and Infinity Construction Company is the general contractor.

Aside from the obvious attraction of a fitness club, the new YMCA will feature youth and senior programming as well as specialty programs targeted at preventing diabetes and helping adult cancer survivors transitioning out of treatment.

"There's a lot of impact that this project has," says Haase, "not only on the City of Cleveland but also in terms in helping to revitalize the downtown community."

Having just celebrated the YMCA's 160^th year in Cleveland, Haase feels it's safe to say this is a long-term relationship.

"We're not going anywhere."