The reaction to NYSC's planned October opening at The Langston, a new 180-unit mixed-use luxury condominium in Harlem's Hamilton Heights, has been so enthusiastic that the sports club has leased an additional 4,000 s/f. When the new 20,000 s/f facility opens, it will become one of the first major health clubs above West 125th St. "NYSC originally leased 16,000 s/f of space," said Scott Auster, a broker with Ripco Real Estate Corp., who handled the leasing transaction on behalf of the developers, Gotham Organization and The Richman Group. "But the incredible response from the community and residents of the building made it necessary for NYSC to expand to meet the anticipated needs." NYSC, a division of Town Sports International, will occupy a portion of two floors at The Langston, with its entrance located on the street level of 145th St., between Frederick Douglass Blvd. and Bradhurst Ave. The club, which will offer, equipment with audiovisual entertainment, cycling, group exercise classes, personal training, and sauna, took possession in February and is currently undergoing a build-out in preparation for their opening. This will be NYSC's second Harlem facility, the first is located in the Harlem USA retail complex on West 125th St., also developed by Gotham. John Epifanio, development manager, handled the lease negotiations for NYSC. "We are very pleased to bring the second NYSC location to Harlem," said Bob Giardina, CEO of NYSC. "This opening reinforces the strength of our unique clustering model, which concentrates clubs in urban centers and suburban locations for commuters and families, making fitness convenient to where our members work and live. We look forward to further expansion of the NYSC banner in Harlem when we open our third location on 115th St. and 5th Ave. later this year." At The Langston, NYSC will join Starbucks, which opened in the spring and Bank of America, which is scheduled to open in October; the club joins other retailers already operating along the West 145th St. corridor such as Pathmark, Duane Reade and Chase. "With the incredible pace at which people are buying up residential property in Harlem, the demand for new retail services is rising in tandem," said Ripco's Auster, noting that The Langston's homes are almost 90% sold. "We have already seen this happen along West 125th St., but now with new wave of residential development, the transformation is well underway along the West 145th St. corridor."