A martial arts, yoga and wellness center with two locations in James City County is planning to consolidate its operations at a new multimillion-dollar facility in York County.
Baeplex Family Martial Arts has been in business since 1979 and expects to spend $3 million over the next five years to build a wellness center campus on 6.2 acres of land at 500 Bulifants Boulevard in upper York County. The company paid $439,000 for the land and received a $25,000 grant from the York County Economic Development Authority to help make its buildings “green” or LEED certified and bring sewer lines to the property.
“I liked it because it is a little bit off the beaten path but not too far from everything around,” said owner Joseph Ash. “It is woods and we are going to be very eco-conscious about it. The whole idea is to create a setting that is more tranquil and relaxing.”
Visitors will be able to drive through trees, park their car and leave their “chaotic” lifestyle behind, Ash said. The heart of the center will be a 12,000-square-foot martial arts studio — one of the largest such facilities in Virginia. Next to it will be a yoga studio with yoga classes and massage and a physical arts building with weights and exercise equipment. Families can take classes together or parents can walk a trail along the perimeter of the campus or sit in a meditation garden while their children take class, Ash said.
His studio isn’t about sports or competition, he said. It’s about building leadership and helping the community.
“Embedded into the curriculum are different character traits that are developed as students reach different color belts,” he said.
Once students build confidence in martial arts, they can apply that confidence to make their own lives better or someone else’s, Ash said. Ash previously organized martial arts tournaments but he hasn’t pursued them for several years because he thinks “society needs better leaders, not necessarily better fighters.”
Baeplex staff now train about nine fifth-grade students a year from Williamsburg and James City County elementary schools in resiliency or anti-bullying tactics. The students get to take free classes for an entire year. Ash said he is open to involving York County schools in this practice. His staff members also provide lessons at schools to help students learn how to focus. If they can focus during a martial arts exercise, they believe they can focus in class, he said.
There won’t be homes or hotels on the property but the company is organizing partnerships with nearby hotels so that companies can use the facility for retreats, he said.
The first phase of the three-phase project entails spending about $1.5 million to purchase the land, clear some of the trees, get the infrastructure such as sewer lines up to code and building half of the martial arts building. The second phase will be to build the yoga studio and the third phase will be to build the physical arts building and complete the martial arts building. He plans to break ground in the next 30 days and have part of the campus operating by October.
Ash said he stepped down from serving as the district chair of the Virginia AAU Taekwondo Association a few years ago in order to make his vision for an all-encompassing wellness center a reality. He looked for space in James City County and Williamsburg but there were issues with zoning and size, he said. Ultimately, he chose York County and said the EDA grant showed the community supported his business.
James W. Noel, the director of the county’s Office of Economic Development, said in November the county was “excited to see him put in a new facility.”
“We were interested in seeing something going because once people see dirt turning in an area it helps stimulate interest and potentially new projects,” Noel said.
Somers can be reached by phone at 757-298-5176.
