Bobby’s Gym, a Black-owned health club located in Liberty City for more than three decades, closed its doors last week amid financial struggles and building safety concerns.
According to property manager Dorothy Smith, a realtor at Ashmore Properties and a collection agent for Friendship Missionary Baptist Church (FMBC), owner James ‘Bobby’ Lasster had fallen on hard times.
The once burgeoning Seventh Avenue corridor in Liberty City, where Lasster had hoped to grow his business from the ground up, now stands with more abandoned buildings and For Rent signs than operating businesses.
Located on 5708 NW Seventh Ave., Bobby’s Gym is one of two properties owned by FMBC in the 57th Street strip mall. The other is the First International Pentecostal Church of God, adjacent to the gym. When FMBC brought on Smith to replace Rolle Realty approximately 20 years ago, Bobby’s Gym was already renting space at the property.
Business had become unprofitable for Lasster, who went up against competing fitness chains that popped up in neighboring communities, and the unfortunate reality that Liberty City’s primary commercial corridor is not what it once was due multiple factors, including gentrification.
Gym members were paying $25 a month, according to the Miami Herald, compared to costs at major health club chains like Planet Fitness and YouFit, which charge as low as $10 for basic gym access and $25 for premium membership. High-end chains such as LA Fitness range from $29-$34 for monthly memberships.
“Bobby was always struggling but we always worked with him,” said Smith, disclosing that Lasster had been honest with the church about how hard it was for him to sustain the business and meet rent deadlines with little revenue. “We knew that he didn’t have that many members so he had to pay with the little amount he was making.”
At one point, Lasster had fallen so behind on rent that he owed the church up to $10,000 in rent, but Smith said FMBC was willing to have him pay just half of the amount to keep the legacy business running.
“We’ve had a very good relationship with him because he had always been a good tenant and (we) understood that he was just having a hard time,” explained Smith. “The last two to three years had been hard for him because he had health issues and underwent a few surgeries. COVID made it worse because he had no income for a while.”
