Mountainside Fitness Center has announced that despite having recently broken ground it will not open a center in Maricopa as planned this fall.

“We think very highly of the city of Maricopa and we absolutely hope to open and operate our facility there some day,” said Billy Malkovich, vice president of Hatten Holdings in Tempe. “That day is just not today.”

Hatten Holdings, the parent company of Mountainside Fitness, purchased the land in Maricopa about two years ago and had been considering opening in the area for at least a years before then, Malkovich said.

“We went as far as we actually broke ground and were moving dirt recently,” he said in a phone interview today. “Ideally, we were hoping to open sometime in October or November.”

Malkovich cited overall delays related to the city and developers which slowed the project considerably causing them not to hit their target timeframe for opening.

“We make a very large financial investment every time we open one of our facilities,” Malkovich explained. “We have to make sure the timing is right. It has to be a perfect fit at that time, especially with the rapid growth.”

Mountainside Fitness has six clubs open in Arizona, three more under construction and a half-dozen under purchase contract they plan on opening in the next 24 to 36 months. In addition, they are opening another half-dozen in Colorado.

“We love the city of Maricopa and want to open there,” Malkovich said, adding that they “absolutely plan on revisiting opening, let’s say a year from now.”

Meanwhile, “there are other properties that are ready to go now” in Peoria, Carefree and east Gilbert.

Phil Nesbihal of Xtreme Fitness declined to comment on how the change of plans would affect his business on the east side of North John Wayne Parkway.

“I’m not going to disclose any information,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

For Joe Borinti, manager of Anytime Fitness, Mountainside’s decision to hold off on building in Maricopa was good news.

“Maricopa doesn’t need any big gyms right now,” he said.

Anytime Fitness features 6,000 square feet and opened in Maricopa a little more than two years ago. With aerobics classes, personal trainers and 24-hour access, he said they never suffer from any shortage of Maricopa residents who want to stop in and get fit.

“We have enough people to keep us absolutely busy,” Borinti said.

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