It wasn't just the fact that Leslie Macias' 7 p.m. spinning class at the 717 Olympic building was numbingly hard, leaving even the most well-toned of bodies drenched in sweat. That wasn't what made the class distinctive.
It was, rather, the view. The class is held on the building's rooftop -- 27 stories up.
The wide open space, where half a dozen bikes sit on an AstroTurf lawn, is also adorned with telescopes to better gaze at Staples Center to the south, Boyle Heights to the east and the changing skyline of downtown.
A breeze swept across the roof on a recent Wednesday, flapping the United States flag on the construction crane of a residential tower rising nearby. Macias walked to a bike at the front of the class, stopping to turn on an iPod before she climbed into position.
Adjusting her heart rate monitor, she looked around at the residents perched on bikes, watching her with a mixture of anticipation and dread.
"Ready?" Macias said.
And with that, as Janet Jackson belted out the first few lines of "Rhythm Nation," a unique L.A. gym class began.
Perk for renters
As new luxury high-rises arrive downtown, each new building owner is contemplating how to use amenities to appeal to upscale residents. For 717 Olympic, which opened a couple of months ago near the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street, that means a "concierge" space on the eighth level, complete with wine refrigerators for residents and a cappuccino machine, a private screening room and a fitness center. The spinning classes represent another perk for renters, who pay between $2,500 and $20,000 a month.
"It goes along with the resort-type feel," said Joanna Wiese of Hanover Co., the building's owner. "If you want to go for a wine tasting or a spinning class, it's an added amenity for the building."
Macias, a pixieish woman with red hair, freckles and impressive biceps, is a former Laker Girl and Denver Broncos cheerleader. She was hired as the building's fitness director after working in a similar capacity at a Hanover building in Denver.
Macias said that the first time she toured the building, before residents had arrived, she saw the rooftop space and immediately had ideas about how it could be used.
"It was one of those things," she said. "I came up here and said, how cool would it be if we had bikes up here? And they got them."
