Kari Lucero, center, leads one of her five-day Zumba dance classes at Westside Motion Studio on July 5. Individual instructors can rent the new fitness studio near Unser and Ladera by the hour. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)
Motion Studio West co-owner Peter Pineda in the new studio at 2115 Vista Oeste NW. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)
Westside Motion Studio co-owners Peter Pineda, left, and Dominic Romero at the West Side business. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)
A new fitness class studio is now available for rent on Albuquerque’s west side.
Opened earlier this year, Motion Studio West, at 2115 Vista Oeste NW, is an 1,800-square-foot fitness co-op available for instructors to rent by the hour, according to owner Peter Pineda.
Pineda, the real estate agent who owns the shopping center that houses Motion Studio West and the Anytime Fitness franchise, said he has been looking to fill space in the shopping center since the start of the pandemic, but has been unable to find a tenant.
Instead of continuing to search for a tenant, Pineda, along with his business partner Dominic Romero, decided to convert the space into a workout co-op for fitness instructors who either wanted to build a business or lost studio space during the pandemic. .
“A fair number of instructors were displaced because the gym or studio they were working at closed during COVID, so they were out of the house,” he said. “…We feel like this gives us an opportunity to help those people get back on their feet.”
Until now, the studio has been rented by instructors teaching dance and Zumba classes, but Pineda says the studio can easily accommodate yoga, martial arts or any group exercise class.
Pineda said he hopes the studio will allow for a greater offering of fitness classes, such as yoga or martial arts, that are not available in the studio’s neighborhood.
He said the space isn’t just for established trainers, but can also act as a business incubator for people looking to break into the industry, or for those who only hold a few classes a week and don’t want to rent an entire studio on a monthly basis.
“You don’t pay any utilities, you don’t pay any building insurance, you don’t pay rent, you come rain or shine,” he said.
The only cost he said is $35 an hour during peak hours and $25 an hour for the rest of the hours.
Pineda said he is able to keep costs low because he owns the property where the studio is located and doesn’t want to make an immediate profit on the studio.
Visit motionstudiowest.com for more information.
