Western Athletic Clubs, Inc., a major developer/operator of full-service athletic clubs on the West Coast, has broken ground on its first club in Southern California. The club is named Pacific Athletic Club and is located on 10 terraced acres in San Diego's North County community of Carmel Valley.

The new 87,000-sq.-ft. club will feature a wide range of sports and fitness facilities, including swimming pools, tennis courts, special purpose exercise studios, squash courts, a regulation basketball gymnasium, and an 11,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art fitness center.

Supporting its core athletic and fitness facilities is an impressive array of associated amenities, such as a full-service day spa, a sports medicine clinic, a pro shop, a casual café and luxurious locker rooms. In addition, according to Peter Jones, General Manager of the Pacific Athletic Club, the club has been designed with the entire family in mind. Along with a childcare center that serves infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers, the club features separate programs and facilities for teens as well, including summer camps, computer entertainment center and a special studio for martial arts classes.

"Our mission is to enhance the quality of our members' lives and by doing so, become a valuable new addition to the greater community," said Jones. "To achieve our mission, we seek to offer this community a 'third place' away from home and office, where all members of the family can spend quality time in a healthy, caring environment." Membership information is available by calling (858) 509-0700.

Providing preconstruction and general contracting services, DPR Construction, Inc. is working closely with the project team, including the owner and architect Form4 of San Francisco, to ensure a smooth construction process with a projected opening of Spring 2002.

"The building has a very distinctive footprint to encompass all of the amenities and uses throughout the building," said Cari Williams, project executive for DPR.

As a partial requirement of its conditional use permit, the Club is creating and deeding to the city a more than two-acre parcel of land that it will improve with landscaping, benches and walkways. This improved parcel will serve as an extension of the pedestrian access from the park located across the street on the north side of Carmel Country Road.