A pair of local entrepreneurs have plans to build a two-story, 42,000-square-foot athletic facility with a swimming pool, gym, courts and commercial space on Skyliners Road in west Bend.

Developers plan to submit permit applications for the Skyliner Sports Club to the city by the end of the month, targeting an opening date in spring 2026.

Ideas for a new private athletic facility on Bend’s west side have been in the works for two years. The project is led by John Malfatto, a local entrepreneur and project manager, and Rob McDonald, co-owner of stand-up paddleboard business Stand on Liquid and snow sports consigner Latitude 44 Sports.

Read more: Bend company is largest independent seller of SUP boards on West Coast

The partners envision a state-of-the-art facility combining sports and fitness with a social scene that includes a 3,000-square-foot deck, stylish cafe and bar and food truck lot.

Finding the right place

Developers still need more investors before moving forward, Malfatto said. But the project took a big step when his company, Skyliner Development LLC, closed on a 3-acre property on Skyliners Road, near Crosby Drive, in December. Developers presented the project to the Summit West Neighborhood Association on June 12, a requirement of the city’s pre-application process.

“It just started with seeing the need in Bend for a nice fitness facility, and particularly on the west side,” he said. “We’ve just been looking for the right piece of property.”

“There aren’t a lot of large commercial parcels in Bend, especially at the gateway to the forest. We were very lucky to get this piece of land,” he said.

Malfatto, a former college swimmer and swim instructor at The Athletic Club of Bend, said concepts for the Skyliner Sports Club blossomed around the need for a new swimming pool and more capacity to provide swimming lessons beyond current offerings at the Bend Park & Recreation District’s Juniper Swim & Fitness Center, the pool at Tetherow and The Athletic Club of Bend, where he was giving lessons.

“It just became very apparent that we needed another pool in Bend,” he said.

Other amenities

Along with a lap pool, the facility would include a hot tub and water play area for kids. Malfatto said use of the lap pool will prioritize members of the club, but he also wants to carve out time for youth swim groups or kids who can’t afford a membership.

The facility would also include six pickleball courts, a basketball and volleyball court, a large weight training facility, group fitness and yoga studios, plus a “recovery area” with a spa, sauna, cold plunges and a food truck patio with seating for 100 people — all with “unobstructed views of the Cascades,” Malfatto said.

Monthly membership fees, on average, are likely to cost $300-$325, Malfatto said, while access to services like fitness classes or pickleball could come with additional costs, details that still need to be worked out.

“We want to make sure we provide something really nice and state of the art,” Malfatto said. “We don’t want to just skimp on things. If that means we have to raise our rates a little bit, we’ll figure that out and make sure it makes sense for future members.”

If plans work out, the Skyliner Athletic Club will add an amenity near the growing Discovery West neighborhood — 245 acres of which was tacked on to Bend’s west side during the city’s 2016 urban growth boundary expansion, with a master plan approved in 2019.

Christie Haynes, builder relations manager for Brooks Resources, which partnered with Tennant Developments to develop Discovery West, said 145 of 600 planned homes have been built so far. The rest of the buildout could take six or seven years, she said. The same development partnership was behind Bend’s NorthWest Crossing neighborhood.

Read more: Developers draw master plans for east and west Bend

New growth at Discovery West was one reason Skyliner Sports Club developers chose that location. But Malfatto said he sees the new club as an important resource for all of west Bend.

“We feel like we’re doing this for the right reasons, and we hope people will support it,” he said.