Township approves plans for SoulCycle

The demolition of two buildings and construction of a new 3,107-square-foot structure to house a SoulCycle studio at Bloomfield Medical Village in the northeast corner of Telegraph Road and Maple was unanimously approved on Monday, September 9, by the Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees.

New York-based SoulCycle bills itself as "more than a workout – it's an experience," and has a devoted fitness following at its studios around the country, from New York City, California, Chicago and Florida. The Bloomfield Township location will be the first Michigan location, at 6405 Telegraph Road.

The location, which is zoned as office space, is master planned as office and basic personal service uses, also falls under the current O-1 zoning classification, said Bloomfield Township Director of Planning Patti Voelker. She said the studio provides instructor-led classes and proposes weekday hours of 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Weekend hours will be from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The site plan calls for the new building in place of current medical buildings to be 20-feet high and consist of limestone panels, gray block, dark bronze anodized aluminum storefront and door framing, and clear glazing. The plans were previously approved by the township's design review board and planning commission in July. The township's zoning board of appeals in August authorized replacing the existing ground sign with a multi-tenant ground sign, which will encroach about five feet into the required 15-foot setback.

Property owner Duane Barbat, of the Barbat Organization, said the site developer had a chance to bring in a high quality client and provide some additional beautification to the area.

"It's a very high end building, and as traffic goes by, it's one of the buildings they will see," Barbat said. "It's an older property and we have inherited a number of leases that may not justify improvements to the aesthetics right now, but as we go along, we would like to improve those buildings."