VIP MEMBERS ONLY

Germany's RSG Group bets big on Heimat, the most luxurious fitness club the city of Los Angeles has ever seen...

- NICOLAS STECHER

"It was a very challenging project to pull off because nobody has done it before," declares Sebastian Schoepe, President and CEO of RSG Group North America. "[RSG Group founder] Rainer . Schaller and I travelled all over Europe, to Asia, we researched clubs in the United States and toured all the premium concepts that we could find. And nothing like this exists anywhere in the world." While the words may sound like marketing speak, when referencing RSG Group's latest members-only fitness cathedral, Heimat, it is difficult to be hyperbolic. To call their sparkling new endeavor near the corner of La Brea and Santa Monica in Los Angeles USA a "health club" seems woefully reductive. For RSG, Heimat, which owns global fitness brands like Gold's Gym, it is a critical chess move. Although the fitness industry took a huge hit during the pandemic, with revenues down 58%, it has been forecasted to balloon 172% to US$434 billion by 2028-and clearly RSG Group has ambitious goals to capture as much of that as they can.

The 75,000-square-foot wellness and social club is built out over five floors of a 1933 industrial warehouse, each floor offering something different. After handing your keys to the smiling valet, one enters the Living Room lobby area laced with upholstered couches, vintage furniture, Persian rugs and an all-round homey vibe; Heimat loosely translates from German to “the warm feeling of home.”