Refinance your gym or fitness studio commercial loan

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. On a fitness refinance the work is in getting the building read correctly, because a gym is ordinary commercial security and a file priced as though it were specialised is costing the owner money. We correct that, present the member book where it counts, and stay with it past drawdown. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

We refinance commercial facilities from $50K up to $30M, whether that is one floor you want repriced or two locations held under one structure. The new limit is set by the current valuation and by servicing, not by what you originally borrowed.

Because your bank can only tell you what your bank will do, and on this asset the starting assumption is what costs owners money. We do the legwork: we run the comparison across more than 40 lenders, work out which read a gym as ordinary commercial security at your loan size, and present to one at a time so your credit file does not collect an enquiry for every conversation. We also model the break costs, valuation and legals against what moving gains you.

75% to 80% of the current value. A gym building is standard commercial security, in the same bucket as an office or a warehouse, so it gears like one. The figure follows a fresh valuation on comparable sales and achievable rent, not the price you originally paid.

No, and it is the most common thing we correct. A gym building is valued on comparable sales and achievable rent, the same as an office or a warehouse, rather than on what the business earns. That is quite different from a pub, a motel or a service station, where the property and the trade are assessed as one and the lending gears lower. If your existing facility was written as though the building were specialised, retest it.

It helps in a specific way. A fitness facility is a Class 9b assembly building and a shop, an office or a warehouse is not, so a conversion carries obligations around accessible access and sanitary facilities, showers and change areas, waterproofing, room heights, ventilation and occupant capacity with the exits that follow. Once that work is done and certified, the contingency a buyer would have to price is off the file entirely, and the floor can be occupied as it stands by a wider group of operators.

It does, and it is the strength of the file. Recurring direct debit revenue is contracted and predictable, which is how a gym services its loan. What it is not is security: a lender takes a mortgage over the building, not a charge over your member base. So we present it where it counts, on serviceability, with member numbers, churn, average revenue per member and the split between direct debit and casual set out the way a credit team reads them.

At purchase the numbers belonged to whoever ran the club before you and the lender was pricing a handover it had not seen you complete. Now there is a history: how the book has moved year on year, what churn actually runs at, and how much of the revenue is on direct debit rather than casual. Presented as a trend rather than a headline, that reads as a durable income line.

Yes, where the current valuation supports it. Cash out on a commercial refinance is assessed on the purpose of the funds, so the lender wants to know what it is for. Re-equipping the floor, adding a studio room, upgrading change rooms or a deposit on a second location are all ordinary purposes. We evidence them with quotes and a timeline, which is a stronger case than an open-ended limit.

Separately from the building, and on its own cycle. Rigs, racks and platforms last a long time and a cardio fleet is commonly replaced every few years, so a facility matched to the replacement cycle costs far less to carry than the same spend stretched across a 25 year mortgage. At a refinance we look at both together and then keep them apart.

Often not. A decline on a top up is one lender applying one policy on one day, and on fitness premises it frequently traces to the building being read as specialised when it is not. The security is ordinary commercial property written by a wide group of banks and non-banks. We look at why the answer was no, then place the file where that reason is not the deciding one.

Four to six weeks from application to settlement for a straightforward file, and often at the shorter end because a comparable-sales valuation is quick to commission. A second location or an SMSF refinance takes longer. We give you a realistic timeline at the start so you can plan the expiry date around it.

The existing loan statements, two to three years of financial statements and tax returns for the operating entity, the member book set out over time with churn and the direct debit split, personal tax returns and notices of assessment for the guarantors, a statement of assets and liabilities, and the equipment schedules. For the building we want the occupation certificate and any classification documents from the conversion.

The costs are a valuation, legal and settlement fees, any lender establishment fee, discharge costs from your current lender, and break costs where you are leaving a fixed rate. Break costs are an economic cost, so they are calculated on the day and vary with how much fixed term is left. We put the real numbers against the benefit before you commit to anything.

Yes, it is possible, and we arrange these. It is also one of the more intricate refinances in commercial finance, and the detail is what decides whether it works. From 10 August 2026 a new arrangement can only be used for business real property, and premises used wholly in a business qualify, whether your own company occupies them or a tenant operator does. It has to stay the same single property, and it is limited to the balance outstanding plus accrued interest, so there is no top up, no redraw and no cash out inside the fund. Borrowed money cannot be used to improve the property either, so a classification upgrade or a floor conversion is funded from the resources of the fund. The holding trust is reassigned to the incoming lender rather than dissolved, which carries a legal cost worth weighing against the gain. Your operating company leases the premises back in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid. Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super. Reassign the holding trust to the incoming lender on the same single property, the major banks have exited SMSF lending, and lenders want a liquidity buffer left in the fund after settlement. We know this sounds complicated, and we can assist to make things clearer. Reach out to our team and we will guide you through the entire process. We structure the finance, tell you which lenders will take gym premises as SMSF security and on what terms, and bring in the SMSF specialists and licensed advisers who set the fund side up. You will not be working it out on your own.

Most of the time, no. Where a refinance requires significant preparation due to its complexity, a small mandate fee may apply, and we will always be upfront about this before any work begins.

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever your premises are located, we can arrange your finance.

Beyond refinancing the premises, we also assist with asset finance and working capital. On asset finance, that covers rigs, racks and platforms, cardio and strength equipment, matting and flooring, air conditioning, audio visual, access control and member management systems. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding to carry wages through the quieter months, and we can fold these into the refinance where it makes sense.

Yes, and it describes most owners we speak to. The facility is set up at settlement and then simply runs, usually while the conversion gets finished and the member book quietly builds. That is our core ethos, helping you understand the right strategy, structure and clear advice from the very first conversation. Our main borrower profiles are established business owners and commercial property investors with facilities from $50,000 upwards. We will start by telling you what the premises are likely to value at now, whether your current facility is priced as standard commercial security, what moving costs, and whether it is worth making. If it is not, we will say so and you can stay where you are.