Pickleball courts, coworking space highlight makeover at Midtown Athletic Club Palatine
Midtown Athletic Club Palatine has roots in the community reaching back to the 1970s, when the facility at 1760 N. Hicks Road was known as the Forest Grove Swim & Racquet Club.
Now Midtown, which acquired the building in 1984, is poised to take a major step into the future, embarking this month on a $7 million renovation.
Brad Houx, vice president of operations, calls it a complete transformation of the club.
“Our expectation is that it will likely be considered the premier athletic and tennis facility in the Northwest Suburbs,” he said.
Midtown Athletic operates eight athletic and tennis clubs across the U.S. and Canada. The updated Palatine facility will be modeled on the award-winning design of the company's flagship property, Midtown Athletic Club & Hotel in Chicago, which underwent a $75 million makeover in 2017.
The company also has made multimillion upgrades at its clubs in Bannockburn, Willowbrook and Rochester, New York.
The Palatine location will include a new club entrance modeled after the Chicago property.
Three new indoor pickleball courts will open next to the club's 13 indoor and outdoor tennis courts featuring clay and hard court surfaces. It marks the first time that Midtown will have dedicated pickleball courts.
The Palatine club also will offer the first coworking space within the Midtown family. Midtown is branding it The Library, and it will include quiet space for meetings.
In addition, there will be a complete revamp of the club's cafe and dining room.
“The goal of this project is to ensure Midtown Athletic Club Palatine provides an unmatched experience for our members and remains the premium athletic and tennis club in Chicago's Northwest Suburbs for years to come,” Midtown CEO Steven Schwartz said. “Our redevelopment of Midtown Athletic Club & Hotel in Chicago set a new bar for quality in our industry and we expect the results at Midtown Palatine to be equally as dramatic and impressive.”
Work is underway and expected to be complete in January. Other planned upgrades include:
• New locker rooms featuring lockers members will be able to unlock with digital membership bracelets.
• A redesigned fitness floor with new strength and cardio equipment.
• New boutique-style fitness studios under the banners of Midtown's national fitness brands, including Everybody Fights, a boxing concept developed by George Foreman III, and The Field, a massive turf space designed like a football field.
Houx said the project is the culmination of work begun prior to the pandemic, which hurt operations and revenue.
“The business is in a position where we are in growth mode again,” he said.