Solidcore Accelerates Expansion Pace, Thanks in Part to Real Estate Tech

The boutique fitness brand is tracking for 30 to 35 new studio openings this year, powered by what it says is a highly successful real estate partnership with SiteRise

Solidcore has a problem — the good kind.

Loyalists of the boutique fitness brand set midnight alarms to book classes. They pray to the Solidcore gods to clear the waitlist they inevitably land on. When the brand piloted a heated mat-based format for two weeks at its Navy Yard studio in Washington, D.C., this spring, the loudest reaction from fans was a plea for more studios.

New studio openings arrive with swag-haul posts on social media, like the recent Gramercy grand opening, where one member showed off their branded goodies the way other people unbox sneakers.

The L Catteron-backed brand has panache, and part of that comes from leaning into the true boutique vibe: elusive, just a bit out of reach. Intentional.

People want Solidcore. And Solidcore is listening.

The brand is tracking 30 to 35 new studio openings in 2026, following 25 to 30 openings in 2025, Solidcore senior director of development Lou Benedetto told Athletech News, adding that Solidcore expects to maintain that pace into 2027 and beyond.

Behind the growth is a partnership with SiteRise, a real estate development and project management platform Solidcore has used for close to two years. Other brands the platform has worked with include Vuori, Gap, Lilly Pulitzer and more.

SiteRise has managed more than 250 prospective Solidcore studio locations through its platform since the partnership began, according to the companies. Recent expansions include San Diego and San Francisco. In San Diego, the brand built out a team of coaches and field leaders from scratch, Benedetto said.

The partnership has prioritized pace and discipline, a contrast to the franchise-driven model that has fueled much of the growth in boutique fitness. Solidcore is corporate-owned, giving the brand control over its studios, coaches and the workout. 

“I think we would love to put a Solidcore on every corner, and really open up the product to as many people as we can,” Benedetto said. “But for us, it’s a game of prioritization, and really just finding the markets where we could really lean in and grow that Solidcore community with the biggest impact.”

For SiteRise, Solidcore represents the kind of operator the platform was built for. The platform pulls real estate, design and construction into one workspace, then pushes the information and documents out to every team that needs them.

When one date shifts, every downstream function sees the new timeline.

“The ability to have one source of truth where they can then take the data, re-forecast and share the way they want to, allows them to recruit on time, open on time, order supplies on time, and procure items and reformers, everything they need in line with their opening dates,” SiteRise founding partner Dillon Okner said.

Looking ahead, Okner said SiteRise is rolling out new data extraction and reporting features over the next two quarters. 

As for Solidcore, the brand is in what Benedetto called a “recovery phase“ following its Innovation Lab pilot at the Navy Yard studio, which included the pilot of a heated, mat-based conditioning workout. The team is reflecting on the feedback, and if a next version of the format moves forward, Benedetto said the development team would use SiteRise to roll it out.

For now, Solidcore is working on giving devotees what they’re asking for: more studios, with SiteRise’s help.