SUN SENTINEL

Luxury residence offers virtual fitness classes to everyone

By: Amanda Klarsfeld

In pre-COVID-19 times, 101 Via Mizner in downtown Boca Raton offered many amenities to its residents — happy hours, yoga and fitness classes, among others.
“We are a luxury urban resort…we offer a lot,” said Melissa Myers, senior director of marketing for real estate developer Penn-Florida Companies, the group that operates the residence.
When Palm Beach County called for all communal spaces to close to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, Myers said she knew they needed to find a way to keep the residents engaged.

“We immediately recognized the need for a virtual platform,” she said. “We are using Facebook Live to offer yoga, virtual cooking classes, Q&A with a doctor and more. We plan to host three fitness classes as well as a couple of other events each week. We’re even doing a virtual happy hour.”

The best part? It’s open to everyone, not just residents.

“Our company has been invested in the Boca Raton community for 30 years. The health and well-being of our community-at-large is extremely important to us. We want to take care of everyone as much as we can,” Myers said.

Christian Skillen owns Prime Health Management, the company that runs 101 Via Mizner’s now-online fitness program.

“In these times, we have to do anything we can to stay healthy and keep our immune systems up,” said Skillen, who also leads some of the virtual training. “We just have to think outside the box now to keep people happy and also, to provide an escape and put them at ease,” he said. “People are going stir crazy. These classes will also help to keep up social interaction.”

Participation in 101 Via Mizner’s fitness classes has gone up considerably since the online programming began, and Skillen said he sees this as an unanticipated benefit to the fitness industry.

“Once this gets behind us, people will really recognize how much better being healthy feels. I do believe that with this new awareness, we’ll see people gravitate toward a healthier lifestyle,” he said.

101 Via Mizner resident Randi Inniss said she is grateful she can still take her Wednesday night yoga class.

“Considering this state of uncertainty, the yoga class is really helping me to center myself,” she said. “Oh, and one added benefit of the new format? I don’t have to worry about my outfit or check my hair. I can just log on and go.”

Visit 101viamiznerbocaraton.com for a link to the live and recorded fitness classes and other community programming that can be accessed by all.

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