While Google has acquired the lease for the Gold’s Gym Venice location, the search engine has "no plans to expand into Gold’s Gym space," Jordan Newman, manager of corporate communications and public affairs at Google, said Tuesday.
"In fact, we are working with them to extend their lease,” Newman added.
NBC4 reported on Monday that the Mountain View-based tech company was in the works to take over the iconic gym, dubbed the “Mecca of bodybuilding,” by June 2014.
Google does not own the building but it could lease it and then sublease it to Gold's Gym, whose lease is running out.
Councilman Bill Rosendahl said he and his staff have been assured by Google that the search engine company will not force out the iconic fitness locale, despite “several months” of swirling rumors.
“We have been thoroughly assured that Google appreciates the significance of Gold’s Gym to the Venice and bodybuilding communities, and wants the gym to stay where it is,” Rosendahl said in a statement released Tuesday.
“Google America’s Real Estate Group confirmed that Google has acquired the lease for a number of properties in the area near its Venice campus, including the property occupied by Gold’s Gym.
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Google is currently negotiating with the Gold’s Gym parent company, TRT Holdings, Inc., and hopes to strike an agreement that will keep Gold’s Gym where it is for 10 more years.”
Newman said he is not sure exactly how the rumors began.
The gym's Texas-based owners currently lease the space from a Los Angeles real estate company.
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