Valuing a gym or fitness club in Morocco: premises, business and commercial lease

“The club is worth X” is not a valuation. The buyer of the premises, the buyer of the business and the funder are not securing the same thing — and a single aggregated figure serves none of them.

1. A market finding its shape, in very varied configurations

The Moroccan fitness market has grown and professionalised across the larger cities: independent neighbourhood clubs, multi-site brands, premium venues with a pool and a spa, specialist studios. The property configurations are just as varied — a leased floorplate in a mixed-use building, a ground-floor commercial unit, a purpose-built venue, a unit inside a shopping centre.

Valuation instructions arise at identifiable moments: the sale of the business, a partner taking a stake in a network, the sale of the premises occupied by a club, funding for heavy fit-out works, a lease renegotiation, or a disagreement between landlord and operator over the renewal rent. Each case calls for a clear statement of what exactly is being valued.

2. Three objects of valuation, not to be conflated

• The premises — the unit held by an owner and let to the club. Value is assessed on the rental income: the passing rent, the market rent, the length and quality of the lease, the specificity of the fit-out. A plain unit would re-let readily; a highly specific one depends on its occupier.
• The business — the membership base, the local brand, the coaching team, the leasehold interest. This is what changes hands between operators.
• The fit-out and equipment — weights and cardio floors, pool, changing rooms, ventilation, sound systems. These sit on the border between the two: some are fixed by nature (pool, reinforced floors), others are depreciable, removable kit.

The most common confusion is to fold the business and the fit-out into a single “the club is worth X” figure. That number cannot be used in a negotiation, because the purchaser of the premises, the purchaser of the business and the funder are not securing the same assets — and none of them can trace where the figure came from.

3. The business: membership recurrence as the foundation

Unlike a passing-trade shop, a fitness club lives on memberships: the quality of the income is measured by its recurrence, not simply by its amount. The analysis works on the data supplied by the client:

• Active member base and average length of membership — a loyal core is structurally worth more than volatile attendance.
• Renewal rates and seasonality — the enrolment cycles (the return from the summer break, the turn of the year) and attrition have to be read across several trading years.
• Revenue mix — memberships, personal training, group classes, ancillary services: diversification smooths the flows.
• Structural costs — rent, coaching payroll, energy (a significant line as soon as there is a pool or intensive air conditioning), equipment maintenance.
• Local competitive intensity — a competitor opening nearby shows up quickly in enrolments; the report documents the competitive environment of the neighbourhood.

This is the operating-asset logic we apply to private clinics and to hotels: normalised income supports the value, the valuer states the assumptions, and does not invent the trade.

4. The commercial lease: the operator's central asset

Most clubs are tenants. The commercial lease is then the key document in the file, and it cuts both ways:

• From the operator's side — unexpired term, rent against the market, the permitted use clause (sporting use must be expressly authorised), the allocation of outgoings and works, the conditions for assigning the leasehold interest. A long lease at a sustainable rent is a valuable asset; a precarious lease undermines the whole business. Our guide to the commercial lease under Law 49-16 sets out the framework, and the point on permitted use is developed in our note on changing the activity carried on under a lease.
• From the landlord's side — the value of the premises depends on the covenant of the operator, the level of the rent against the market and the specificity of the fit-out: a heavily transformed floorplate (pool, changing rooms) is harder to re-let to another use, which weighs on the liquidity of the asset.
• Rent above or below the market — as with any let property whose rent has drifted from the market under a term and reversion analysis, the valuer reasons on the market rent the business can sustain, not on the headline rent.

5. Specialist fit-out: depreciated cost and reversibility

The fit-out of a serious club is heavy and specific: a pool and its water treatment, reinforced floors for the loaded areas, ventilation and air handling sized for dense occupancy, changing rooms and sanitary facilities, acoustic insulation. Two principles govern its treatment:

• Valuation at depreciated cost — following the logic of DRC under VPGA 5: the cost of building it new, less a depreciation that runs fast because use is intensive and sector standards move quickly.
• Value conditional on the use — that fit-out has value for a buyer continuing the same use; for any other permitted use it becomes a cost of demolition and reinstatement. The report has to present both readings.

6. The reversibility test on the unit

What are the premises worth if the club closes? A regular, well-located commercial floorplate at ground level or on an accessible upper floor re-lets to other office or retail uses, and the value of the premises is protected. Conversely, a sunk pool, unusual clear heights or a basement configuration narrow the field of alternative uses. Highest and best use applies as it does to any specialist asset: the alternative use must be legally possible (permitted use, the condominium regulations, zoning) and physically reasonable, and the value adopted is net of the cost of reversing the fit-out.

7. The inputs to the instruction

• Legal — the commercial lease and its variations, the condominium regulations where relevant, operating authorisations, safety and accessibility compliance.
• Trading — the number of active members and its history, tariff schedules, accounts across several years, payroll, coaching and service contracts.
• Technical — an inventory of the fit-out and equipment, age, condition, maintenance contracts, recent and forthcoming capital expenditure.
• Local market — competing clubs within the catchment, relative price positioning, the dynamics of the neighbourhood.

8. Common traps

• Aggregating business, equipment and fit-out into one figure nobody can verify.
• Capitalising a launch year — a club's opening years are not representative; the flows settle over several trading years.
• Ignoring the permitted use clause — a sporting use that is not expressly authorised hangs over the whole business.
• Counting the fit-out twice — once inside the capitalised flows and once again as an asset value: it is one or the other, according to the method adopted.
• Neglecting reversibility — for the premises, the question is not only “what does the club produce?” but “what is the unit worth without it?”

9. What the report is for

Sale of the business, sale of occupied premises, lease renegotiation or renewal, funding of fit-out works, a partner coming in: the report provides a broken-down value — premises, business, fit-out — that is documented and verifiable line by line. It says which trading years were normalised, what rent it considers sustainable, and what it assumed about the reversibility of the unit. Our reports are prepared by RICS-certified expertsand comply with Red Book standards; a private valuation informs a decision and an arm's-length negotiation.

Scope drives the fee: premises alone, business alone, or both, and a single site or a network. For reference, our valuations start at 3,500 MAD excl. tax for standard assets, with a firm quote within 24 hours and delivery in 5 to 8 days, 48-72 hours on the express service. ReaConsult has been operating since 2019, with more than 5,000 valuations completed, offices in 6 cities and a rating of 4.9/5 across 47 reviews.

Note:this article sets out a valuation methodology compliant with RICS standards (Red Book, and VPGA 5 logic for specialist fit-out). The commercial lease regime and operating authorisations are governed by the regulations in force — confirm your own position with your advisers. A private valuation informs a decision and an arm's-length negotiation. To instruct us, see our contact page or the property blog.