YMCA of the Foothills in escrow on athletic club

YMCA of the Foothills officials recently confirmed they are negotiating with the owners of Foothill Athletic Club over the purchase of the La Crescenta facility, which could help ease long-standing overcrowding and parking issues at the Y’s La Cañada site.

Tyler Wright, president and chief executive of YMCA of the Foothills, said in an interview Tuesday that while talks are still ongoing, escrow on the approximately 15,000-square-foot property is expected to close on Jan. 18.

While the Y was not specifically looking for new properties, Wright said when the athletic club owners made contact last spring and said they were looking to sell the facility, located at 3931 Lowell Ave., board members thought adding a site in La Crescenta fit into a long-range vision of providing more access and services to the community.

“We felt, as an organization, it fell right within that footprint of expanding our impact,” Wright said, explaining how the new site would accommodate young Crescenta Valley families as well as existing members. “(And) the facility we’re purchasing is going to give us an opportunity to take some of the pressure, if you will, off the La Cañada facility.”

Patrick Kendall, who co-owns Foothill Athletic Club with Charles Baca, confirmed escrow on the property was scheduled to close on Jan. 18, but declined to comment on the transaction until that time.

YMCA of the Foothills serves about 30,000 people in a typical year, many of whom use the La Cañada site, located at 1930 Foothill Blvd. and known as the Crescenta-Cañada Family YMCA. Officials admit the high volume of traffic, and the parking needed to accommodate visitors, has become a bit of a logistical problem over the years.

“We are a not-for-profit community organization and compelled to help our community,” said Executive Vice President Damon Colaluca, “And when we have more people who need our services than maybe can access us, we are compelled to look for solutions.”

In recent years, YMCA board members have considered constructing a parking structure at the La Cañada site, variations of which have ranged in estimated costs from $3 million to $8 million, according to Wright. The Foothill Athletic Club facility includes a swimming pool in addition to about 100 parking spaces.

Colaluca said while opening a smaller, third facility would not completely eliminate the need for a parking structure, it could potentially help reduce a population overflow and allow the Y to create “a more elegant solution than what was previously on the table.”

“If we can’t, then we basically have to build a giant monolith — this is not an easy proposition,” he added.

Current Foothill Athletic Club memberships, who pay a monthly $40 after an initial $100 fee, will be honored at their current levels until June, according to Colaluca. During that time members will also be given access to the Crescenta-Cañada Y in La Cañada as well as the Verdugo Hills campus in Tujunga, and will receive assistance in finding a new option beyond June.

Membership at the Y currently costs a monthly $59 for adults, after a $100 joining fee, although varying fees and rates exist for seniors, youths and family packages.

Wright said while site renovations could be in the works, he’s hopeful the purchase will be a turn-key operation.

“If everything falls into place, we will assume the keys to the building on Jan. 18. So our intention is that it would open as a Y facility on the 19th,” he said, adding. “It’s pretty exciting — for our community, for our members and for the Y.”

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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine