Expansion reaches mid-sized markets
The model is no longer confined to coastal hubs. In Cincinnati, The Social House began operating adjacent to The Banks, a riverfront retail and entertainment district. Members pay a $4,000 initiation fee plus ongoing monthly charges. Farther north, a long-vacant, 55,000-square-foot building in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, is slated to become The Commerce Club. Scheduled to open in November 2026, the project will include a café, event space, coworking areas and a speakeasy. Co-founder Jeff Lambert said the club will activate a property that has been dormant for more than a decade and serve a growing entrepreneurial class in the city.
Why landlords favor the club model
Developers see private clubs as a solution for large footprints previously held by department stores. Jia Li, associate professor of marketing at Wake Forest University, noted that clubs can “absorb a large footprint while generating steady and recurring traffic,” preserving a premium image without diluting a center’s brand position.
Daniel Spiegel, senior vice president at Coldwell Banker Commercial, added that membership operators typically agree to longer lease terms, deliver consistent foot traffic during off-peak hours and attract consumers with discretionary income. As an illustration, Industrious, a flexible workspace and social concept, leases space at Scottsdale Fashion Square in Arizona, demonstrating how non-retail tenants are gaining ground inside traditional malls.
Retail advisers also cite dwell time as a critical metric. Charlie Koniver, principal at Odyssey Retail Advisors, said the longer visitors remain on property, the more revenue surrounding merchants capture. Private clubs often encourage multiple weekly visits, outpacing the frequency generated by a single anchor store.
Shifting consumer behavior post-pandemic
Analysis from location-data firm Placer.ai indicates that diners have gravitated toward country clubs in the aftermath of pandemic-related shutdowns, perceiving them as controlled, members-only environments. Head of analytical research R.J. Hottovy stated that private clubs inside shopping centers offer a comparable sense of exclusivity and safety, aligning with broader trends that have seen malls integrate fitness centers, coworking spaces and experiential retail to bolster traffic.
Sam Vise, chief executive of Optimum Retailing, highlighted the demographic appeal. Younger consumers often prioritize community and experience over purely transactional shopping, a factor driving landlords to embrace membership-based concepts. Vise, himself a member of Soho House in New York City, said high-frequency visits associated with clubs create spillover benefits for adjacent food, wellness and specialty retail tenants.
Imagem: Internet
Financial considerations and risks
While the model provides stable foot traffic, build-out costs are substantial, and success depends on population density and income profiles. Clubs have experienced cyclical performance in past decades. Soho House went public in 2021 and has since agreed to return to private ownership at a valuation similar to its initial public offering, underscoring the sector’s volatility.
Retail consultant Greg Zakowicz of Omnisend observed that high-income consumers often maintain multiple memberships, including golf clubs and airport lounges, making the transition to retail-based clubs a natural extension. Still, he cautioned that retailers must carefully tailor merchandise, service levels and in-store experiences to meet heightened expectations for curation and hospitality.
Broader cultural context
The spread of private clubs also intersects with social and political currents. The Executive Branch, an invitation-only club co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., opened last year on the lower level of Georgetown Park in the Washington, D.C., area. David Loranger, assistant professor at Sacred Heart University, described the trend as a byproduct of a K-shaped economy in which upper-income households remain willing to spend on premium experiences.
Return to malls’ community roots
Some academics argue that the resurgence of clubs brings retail centers back to their mid-20th-century origins as civic gathering spaces, a notion supported by historical analysis from the International Council of Shopping Centers. By integrating restaurants, cultural programming and workspaces, members-only venues enable malls to function as multifaceted destinations rather than purely transactional environments.
Although a private club is unlikely to occupy a former big-box store wholesale, its presence can redefine the tenant mix, particularly in properties that no longer rely on traditional department-store anchors. However, industry advisers emphasize that the concept is not universally applicable; markets with limited affluence or sparse population density may struggle to support the high fees and capital investments required.
As commercial real estate owners continue to search for tenants that deliver consistent traffic and experiential value, membership clubs are expected to remain a prominent option, especially in districts seeking to position themselves at the upper end of the market. Whether the model proves durable across economic cycles will depend on operators’ ability to balance exclusivity with evolving consumer expectations and to navigate the high operating costs inherent in hospitality-driven ventures.
Crédito da imagem: Rick Kern / Getty Images
