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NEW YORK CITY-New York Sports Club will open its 38th Manhattan location in the Hudson Square neighborhood. NYSC, a division of Town Sports International, signed a 15-year lease for 22,206 sf at 225 Varick St. The fitness center is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2006.

The fitness club will have second floor space in the 344,024-sf site and a ground-level members' entrance. Carl Weisbrod, president, real estate division for building owner Trinity Real Estate and executive vice president, parish of Trinity Church, says the deal "speaks directly to the increasing draw and uniqueness of the Hudson Square neighborhood." John Smallwood, director of Real Estate for TSI, adds that the firm had been "prospecting in the Hudson Square neighborhood for years."

Newmark Retail senior managing director Amira Yunis along with John Epifanio, development manager for Town Sports International, handled the lease negotiations for NYSC. Thomas Lynch of Trinity acted on behalf of the ownership.