With its fifth Austin club now open, ATN caught up with Meghan Akradi to break down Life Time’s push in Texas’ capital city and get a sense of what’s next for the brand
Life Time is known for making big moves. Texas, it turns out, is the perfect stage.
The luxury athletic country club operator has planted its fifth flag in the city at 1301 South Lamar, reflecting what’s happening across Austin: more people and a wellness-minded crowd that’s not in bed by 8 p.m.
The growth isn’t hype. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Austin metro area added more than 58,000 residents between 2023 and 2024, a 2.3% jump that pushed the region into the top 25 largest metro areas in the country. It was also the 13th largest numeric population gain nationwide.
Much of that influx is being driven by millennials and remote workers drawn to Austin for its mix of tech jobs, lack of state income tax, opportunities for outdoor recreation and a vibrant city life.
You see it in work culture, too. A recent Coworking Café study ranked Austin 14th in the U.S. for workforce-driven coworking expansion, noting that the city added 19 coworking spaces between 2023 and 2025.
And if there’s one thing millennials love more than a hybrid job or investing in their longevity, it’s flexibility.
It’s why Life Time, known for its waitlists and all-in wellness approach, says opening a fifth Austin location was an easy call, driven by strong engagement at its four existing area clubs and the sense that there was still plenty of market it had not been able to serve.
But as Meghan Akradi, Life Time’s vice president of real estate and market strategy, points out, the move is about more than expansion; it’s about raising the bar on the brand’s ultra-premium social wellness destinations.
“We knew Austin would be the right market for it because fitness, recovery, nutrition and social-community events are already woven into everyday life,” she tells Athletech News. “So we designed a space that caters to all of these things, that in addition to a great fitness space has a beautiful restaurant and bar, Life Time Work Lounge and a co-ed wet suite with cold and hot tubs, sauna and steam room, a hot stone hammam bench, all in an indoor-outdoor setting with views of Downtown Austin.”
It’s what Life Time has always done well from the start: listen to members and build accordingly. In Austin, that translates into a club that functions as a third place.
“People are looking for a place where they can work out and live a healthy, happy life, but they also want a place where they can stay longer and truly maximize a hybrid lifestyle,” Akradi says. “Life Time South Lamar is designed to be highly community-focused, with a social-club vibe.”
To support that, the club will host a full slate of evening social events alongside more than 125 weekly group studio classes.
Behind the scenes, Akradi says Life Time’s real estate strategy is highly deliberate, extending beyond core coastal markets such as Los Angeles and New York.
“The truth is it’s not one or two things we look for — we look across hundreds of factors of consumer behavior to determine where to develop,” she shares. “It’s just a matter of being patient for the opportunities where we can bring something truly unique to the market.”
That approach carried over to Austin, where Akradi says Life Time had been watching opportunities unfold for years, noting that few offered the chance to build something as distinctive as the Bouldin development, where the new 57,000-square-foot athletic country club spans two floors.
The South Lamar opening is part of a broader expansion push for Life Time.
“We have more than a dozen clubs in the pipeline for 2026, and in general, you can expect to see a lot of our large, 80,000-square-foot-plus clubs open in the year ahead,” Akradi says.
The brand is also rolling out new formats, including its Core.Tone.Reform (CTR) class, a 45-minute, music-driven Pilates reformer workout.
“We expect to offer CTR at more than 60 Life Time locations by the end of this year,” Akradi adds.
Beyond clubs, Life Time is also pushing deeper into wellness-infused real estate through Life Time Living, its residential concept.
“Life Time Living is based on the simple feedback we received from members for years: ‘We’d live here if we could!’” Akradi says, adding that the brand currently operates six Life Time Living locations and plans to expand.
“We’re being thoughtful in our rollout as we want to ensure we can continue to deliver the same premium experience to residential that we offer in our athletic country clubs,” she says. “We have a number of additional projects coming in major markets from coast to coast in the years ahead.”
