A second Crunch Fitness gym is being considered for San Marcos, with a proposed location at 917 TX-80, just off the Interstate 35 North frontage road and about 30 miles south of downtown Austin. No opening date has been announced, and the franchise's owners were not available for comment on the project.
WhatNow reported on the proposed location, describing a site at the intersection of the I-35 frontage road and TX-80, with the interstate passing directly above the plaza. The site sits near IKEA, Hobby Lobby and the Quarter To Ten beauty supply store, putting the new gym within easy reach of Texas State University students and shoppers already drawn to the area's retail corridor.
This would mark the second Crunch Fitness location in San Marcos, and it comes as the chain continues pushing into the Austin and San Antonio markets, with permitting recently filed for the San Marcos project, according to WhatNow. Like other Crunch gyms, the planned San Marcos location is expected to include full gyms with weights, treadmills and ellipticals, personal trainers, and both cardio-based and group fitness classes.
San Marcos Already Has a Crunch — And It's a Big One
San Marcos isn't new to Crunch Fitness. The Undefeated Tribe, the franchisee behind much of the brand's Texas growth, was reportedly just weeks from breaking ground on an $11 million flagship location in the city, according to ConnectCRE. That flagship was designed to span more than 35,000 square feet across two stories on four acres, with ConnectCRE reporting it was set to open in 2024 and bring more than 100 new jobs to the city.
CBS Austin separately reported that Crunch Fitness had begun construction on a brand new, state-of-the-art gym in San Marcos. Crunch's San Marcos location is listed as open 24/7.
A Shopping Corridor Built for Foot Traffic
The broader retail stretch along Highway 80 in San Marcos is anchored by San Mar Plaza, an 185,000-square-foot shopping district drawing traffic from both Interstate 35 and Highway 80, according to Dunhill Partners. That plaza's listed tenants include Conn's, Hobby Lobby, Tractor Supply, Dollar General, Freebirds and Jason's Deli, underscoring just how much commercial activity already surrounds the stretch where the new Crunch gym is planned.
Part of a Statewide Expansion Spree
The Undefeated Tribe's push into San Marcos is just one piece of a much larger buildout. The franchisee owns and operates Crunch Fitness locations throughout Texas and Oklahoma, per Community Impact, and opened South Austin's first Crunch location on William Cannon Drive in December 2023. Community Impact also reported the company is opening a 45,000-square-foot, 24-hour gym at Southpark Meadows inside the former Conn's HomePlus suite, with plans for cardio and strength equipment, circuit training, personal training, group fitness, Olympic lifting platforms and a HIIT area with indoor turf.
Reports on the franchisee's total footprint vary. KXAN reported the Undefeated Tribe had 60 locations open and in development across Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico and Minnesota, with a stated goal of reaching 100 locations by 2028. A separate report from San Antonio CultureMap put the figure at 41 gyms currently operating, with plans to reach 100 across Texas and neighboring states by that same 2028 target. Athletech News reported the franchisee, named Crunch Fitness's Franchise of the Year in 2021, had opened 15 new locations in a single year.
More Gyms Coming Up and Down I-35
The San Marcos project fits into a wave of Crunch openings stretching along the I-35 corridor. Crunch Fitness is set to open a New Braunfels location at 651 N. Business I-35, Suite 900, on October 21, with group classes including yoga, high-intensity interval training, Zumba and cycling plus a staffed children's playroom, according to Community Impact. In San Antonio, a $5 million, 35,000-square-foot flagship gym at 4319 Thousand Oaks Drive is slated to open in summer 2026 and is expected to hire more than 100 people, per a release carried by PR Newswire.
Further north, WhatNow has reported on additional Crunch projects in the pipeline: a Hutto location at 320 Ed Schmidt Blvd. with construction set to begin in November and wrap by the end of 2027, and an Austin location at 6715 Interstate 35 occupying 42,796 square feet, with construction scheduled to finish by early March 2027. Together, the projects point to an aggressive, multi-year expansion that shows little sign of slowing as the chain works toward its stated 100-location goal.
