Blink Fitness has opened its first Newark location at Ironbound Plaza, a former bank building at 2 Ferry St. that was retrofitted by Paramount Assets. — Courtesy: Paramount Assets
By Joshua Burd
Paramount Assets has welcomed a fitness chain to a once-vacant bank building in Newark, which it has upgraded in an effort to repurpose the property for new tenants.
The owner and developer on Friday joined Blink Fitness for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at Ironbound Plaza, located at 2 Ferry St. near Newark Penn Station. The operator is the first new tenant to open at the triangular-shaped, limestone-clad building, which Paramount purchased in early 2017.
Members of the Paramount Assets team joined local residents, dignitaries and Blink Fitness leadership at the ceremony.
Interior fit-out work is now underway for the building’s other tenant, 7-Eleven.
Initially built as a bank building and later converted for medical use, Ironbound Plaza sits on the corner of Market Street, adjacent to Newark Penn Station, Paramount said. The firm touted the facility’s 30,000-person average weekday passenger count, which will benefit 7-Eleven and Blink’s first Newark location as it looks to serve the city’s growing Ironbound district residential population and downtown corporations.
The owner has preserved many original features in the renovation and redesign of Ironbound Plaza, including the building’s architecturally distinct façade, according to a news release. The firm’s in-house construction team headed the Blink Fitness fit-out.
Ironbound bank building reborn as home of 7-Eleven, fitness chain