The South Broadway gym expands to the heights

Jim Gerber’s Gym on South Broadway is for the soccer mom and pro athlete.

“It’s a really tough sport, and people are tired coming here for the first time,” he said.

Gerber opened Saturday in the 12,000-square-foot building at 1409 W. 38th Ave. Traverse Fitness is opening a second location on the border of Denver’s Sunnyside and Highlands neighborhoods.

The new space cost $2 million to build and comes with “a little bit bigger than everything” — including a 36-person sauna, 32- and 42-person exercise classes, a 2,500-square-foot open gym and workspace.

“By the time we open, we’ll probably be over 500 members … and we’ll be profitable on day one,” Gerber, 46, said.

Today, Gerber’s gym has 850 members, paying an average of $220 per month.

He co-founded Traverse and opened his first location in late 2019 in a small building along the South Broadway walkway. Today, it has outgrown this building and the one next door, totaling about 10,000 square feet. It offers an altitude room that can feel like being on top of a mountain 19,000 feet above sea level, a sauna room, an open gym and two other exercise class spaces.

The business model is built from class work. Equipment includes everyday squat racks and benches to slide presses and awesome resistance machines.

The new location will offer even more modern equipment.

“We have turf, we have cardio with treadmills — a new version of the treadmill that actually does slide presses. We’re the first club in the United States, a commercial club, to have a treadmill like that,” he said.

But money doesn’t always come easily.