Urban Air Adventure Park offers obstacle courses, trampolines and other physical activities for children. The franchise chain is planning a location in western Henrico. (Courtesy of Urban Air Adventure Park)
A new entertainment venue for children offers a vacant large retail store for play.
Urban Air Adventure Park plans to open a location at 10050 W. Broad St., the former site of a Bed Bath and Beyond store in west Henrico.
The indoor play park will cover 3,900 square meters and will feature trampolines, laser tag, climbing rocks, a bumper car-like ride and other attractions. The company will also offer a 52-seat cafe with a kid-friendly menu featuring dishes such as pizza, chicken wings and ice creams.
The franchise concept is aimed at 5 to 18 year olds, but also organizes team-building events for companies. The chain’s branches also host birthday parties for children.
The opening of the upcoming Urban Air near the intersection of Broad Street and Gaskins Road is planned for the first quarter of 2025, said franchisee Sachin Gupta.
This is expected to be the chain’s first location in the region and the third opening in Virginia after locations in Fredericksburg and Woodbridge.
The expansion and equipment of the Henrico site is expected to cost $5 million, Gupta said. The site is expected to employ 70 to 80 people.
Louisiana-based Planet Construction was selected as the general contractor for the project, and Wisconsin-based Logic Design & Architecture is the project’s architectural firm.
The former Bed Bath & Beyond store on West Broad Street before its closure last year. (BizSense file)
David Andrews of The Shopping Center Group handled the leasing on behalf of the Urban Air franchise.
Gupta will lead the local Urban Air branch along with fellow franchisee and friend Chandan Suri. They are based in North Carolina and New Hampshire respectively. Also involved in the local branch is Suri’s brother Pawan, who lives in the Richmond area. It is the group’s first Urban Air branch.
Gupta said they focused on western Henrico because families and income levels are higher in that part of town.
“The market has a solid demographic. This type of business requires a younger demographic. It is healthy entertainment for the whole family, but our target audience is the kids,” said Gupta.
In addition to the promising demographic development, the team also believed that there was room in the region for a concept like Urban Air.
“There really isn’t a lot of competition in this industry in the Richmond area,” Chandan Suri said. Other indoor playgrounds for kids nearby include Surge Adventure Park in Regency and Defy Trampoline Park in Short Pump.
Gupta said they are still working on the admission and membership prices that franchisees can set for their locations.
The Fredericksburg location offers passes ranging in price from $26 to $36, according to the company’s website, where there is a $21 pass that allows access to only “basic” trampolines and membership fees from $13 to $18 per month.
The local franchise group also wants to open an Urban Air in the Midlothian area of ​​Chesterfield and is still looking for a commercial space of appropriate size. He said there is no planned opening date yet for the Midlothian location.
“It all depends on when we find the right location. Finding real estate in the Richmond area is not easy,” Gupta said. “It took us almost two years (to secure the Henrico location).”
Urban Air is also expanding in other parts of the state; the company’s website lists locations in Newport News and Gainesville as “coming soon.”
The Texas-based chain was founded in 2011. Urban Air describes itself as the largest operator of children’s theme parks in the world and says it has more than 350 locations either open or in development.
Gupta said he experienced Urban Air firsthand on a trip to Florida with his children a few years ago. He was impressed by how busy the venue was and began thinking about franchising the concept himself.
“We visited a park and the park was full of children, and I mean, there was hardly any space left,” he said. “The place was full of life. My children enjoyed being in that park themselves. They enjoyed every single attraction.”
Urban Air’s initial franchise fee is $100,000. Corporate headquarters charges a 7% royalty fee and franchisees must have $750,000 in liquid assets, the company’s website says.
