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One of the largest retail spaces at Plaza on Galveston Island is preparing to trade shoe racks for treadmills.
Planet Fitness is preparing its first Galveston location, taking over the Shoe Dept. Encore space at 6311 Stewart Road in a $1.5 million conversion scheduled to begin this fall.
A new state construction filing shows plans to remodel 21,225 square feet of existing retail space for the fitness center. The project includes new non-structural partition walls, interior finishes and mechanical, plumbing and electrical work.
Construction is currently scheduled to begin Oct. 1, 2026, with completion targeted for Feb. 1, 2027.
And for Galveston residents who currently leave the island to find Planet Fitness, that’s about to change.
Planet Fitness Is New to Galveston
Planet Fitness already operates clubs throughout the Houston region, including locations north of Galveston Island in Texas City and Dickinson.
However, the company’s current club directory does not list an operating location in Galveston itself. Planet Fitness Texas club directory
That makes the Stewart Road project the fitness chain’s first Galveston location.
Planet Fitness has grown into one of the world’s largest fitness-center operators, with thousands of locations and millions of members worldwide.
The company has continued expanding aggressively in 2026. Planet Fitness reported 2,930 clubs and approximately 21.5 million members as of June 30, while projecting 180 to 190 new club openings during the year. Planet Fitness 2026 second-quarter results
Galveston now appears set to join that expansion.
Shoe Dept. Encore Makes Way for the Gym
The new Planet Fitness isn’t being built from the ground up.
Instead, it’s moving into the large Shoe Dept. Encore space at 6311 Stewart Road.
The shoe retailer has operated from the same address inside Plaza on Galveston Island, and recent local reporting identified Planet Fitness as the business preparing to take over the space.
The conversion represents a substantial change in use.
Rather than replacing one retailer with another, more than 21,000 square feet of traditional retail space will become a fitness center.
That type of reuse has become increasingly common as shopping centers find new uses for large storefronts that can be difficult to refill with conventional retailers.
And in this case, the size works particularly well for Planet Fitness.
A Large Space Inside a Longtime Galveston Shopping Center
Plaza on Galveston Island has been part of the city’s retail landscape for decades.
The center dates to 1970 and contains roughly 152,000 square feet of retail space near the intersection of 61st Street and Stewart Road.
When the property changed hands in 2023, commercial real estate firm JLL described it as a 151,905-square-foot shopping center that was approximately 84.5% occupied. Its tenant lineup included Shoe Dept. Encore, Ross, Five Below, Dollar Tree, UPS and AT&T. JLL Plaza on Galveston Island sale announcement
That makes the future Planet Fitness footprint significant.
At 21,225 square feet, the gym will occupy space equal to roughly 14% of the shopping center’s total leasable area.
It’s a sizable new use for an established property rather than another small storefront opening.
$1.5 Million Conversion Planned
The state filing puts the estimated construction cost at $1.5 million.
Plans call for remodeling the existing tenant space with new interior partitions and finishes along with mechanical, plumbing and electrical work.
The project has already reached Review Complete status.
That doesn’t mean construction has started, but it moves the project farther along than an early proposal or preliminary registration.
It also isn’t Planet Fitness’s first recent investment in Galveston County.
A Planet Fitness project in Dickinson converted more than 22,000 square feet of retail space into a fitness center at an estimated cost of approximately $1.39 million. Texas project record for Planet Fitness Dickinson
The Galveston project follows a remarkably similar formula: take a large existing retail space and invest more than $1 million converting it into a full-size gym.
Construction Starts This Fall
If the current schedule holds, construction on Galveston’s new Planet Fitness will begin Oct. 1 and continue into early 2027.
The Feb. 1 completion date listed in the construction filing represents the anticipated end of construction, not a confirmed grand-opening date. Planet Fitness has not announced when the Galveston club will officially open.
Still, the location, contractor planning and $1.5 million renovation scope provide a much clearer picture of what’s ahead for the longtime shopping center.
After decades as one of Galveston’s established retail properties, Plaza on Galveston Island is preparing for a sizable new use.
More than 21,000 square feet of shoe-store space is becoming a gym—and Planet Fitness is officially heading to Galveston.