Vodka Parties Couldn't Save David Barton Gym from Bankruptcy

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Yesterday, Club Ventures Investments, the parent company of David Barton Gym, filed Chapter 11. A company spokeswoman told Crain's that the gym isn't having trouble with cash flow—it's just worried about its debt, which is pretty massive. David Barton took in $28.3 million last year, but it owes $65.5 million, mostly from big expansion projects during the boom. Locations like the big one at Astor Place cost a fortune to rent, and that doesn't even take into account the cost of creating the chain's famously high-design, nightclub-esque atmosphere.

Barton contract holders shouldn't worry, though: The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by June, and David Barton himself stresses that the bankruptcy won't have any effect on the gyms or member services in the interim.
· Upscale Manhattan gym goes bankrupt [Crain's]
· Bankrupt gym owed $65M [Page Six]
· All David Barton Gym coverage [Racked NY]