Spartanburg City Acquires Nautilus Fitness Property Amid Mixed Emotions for Owner

Spartanburg Seals a Big Purchase with Nautilus Fitness!

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Negotiation Pays Off for Gym Owner but Remains Bittersweet

After a long standoff over the summer, Nautilus Fitness, the widely-acclaimed Spartanburg gym, has finally sold its property to the city. This comes after the gym owner turned down an initial offer of $1.75 million, holding out for a more considerable valuation.

The city council sought out the gym’s property on Church Street primarily because of its crucial location above the stormwater and sewer infrastructure that the city’s upcoming government complex is intended to utilize. Therefore, the impetus for the move was a pressing need to replace the aged underpinnings of this infrastructure.

The city council’s initial offer was pegged against a 2022 assessment that the owner of the gym, John Lankford, strongly protested against. He felt this offer did not account for the growth experienced by the city’s downtown area.

Lankford’s insistence paid off, and as of last October, the deal was closed earning him an additional $300,000.

Not All Sunshine for Lankford

Despite the city matching his increased quotation, Lankford is far from pleased. He lamented, “they paid me for the property but not for the business. I had to sell off all my equipment. I had to sell everything I’ve worked for for 47 years.”

His sentiments reflect the regret he feels for having to close shop after such a fortified duration of operation and his reluctance to have been pushed into the sale by the threat of his property being condemned.

The Next Step

Now that the sale has been finalized, Lankford hopes to help members transition to Trinity Health and Fitness on Skylyn Drive. He is also concerned about his son, who was supposed to take over the reins of the business after working in Nautilus Fitness for 20 years and is now currently job hunting.

On the city’s end, work is ongoing to finalize the structure of the upcoming government facility. Construction work on replacing the infrastructure under the recently purchased property is slated to begin in January.

Parting Words

Lankford’s experience with the city council’s need to leverage his gym’s property spotlights just how quickly a city’s needs can influence the survival of businesses. As he aptly put it, “If the city wants it, they can take it.” The city council awaits a comprehensive design for the new campus, although the construction timeline, at present, remains hazy.

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