Members clubs are hardly a new concept – they’ve been around for centuries. Recently however, their modern incarnations are blending office space with a social scene and foodie-friendly fare with nightlife. These one-stop shops for creative entrepreneurs come complete with cultural programming and upscale amenities (think: screening rooms, fully equipped conference rooms, concierge services and of course, inter-member interactions). Here’s our round-up of some of the most exciting openings to know about.

Uptown House



Former managing director of Soho House North America Mark Somen is moving on up to launch Uptown House in Harlem’s factory district. The hotel and club boasting 80,000 square feet of amenities will include a members’ restaurant, spa, screening room and a “roof playground” with a pool, café and bar, plus 40 rooms and five suites, private event rooms and a digital production studio. The club will launch this summer on Amsterdam Avenue between 126th and 128th streets. Uptown’s team describes the soon-to-be hotspot as “the portal for the relatively untapped, inter-connected worlds of music, film, TV, radio, magazine publishing, design, theatre, fashion, retail, education, finance and law.”  

The Arts Club

Gwyneth Paltrow is taking a break from GOOPing and juicing to launch an L.A. branch of the Arts Club. The club already has locations in London and Aspen and boasts celebrity members of past and present from Charles Dickens, Franz Liszt and Auguste Rodin to today’s VIPs including Paltrow, Beyoncé and Pippa Middleton. The club will be housed in L.A.’s famous Hustler Hollywood building and designed by architectural firm Gensler. Members will have access to a spa, gym, open-air terrace, screening rooms, a restaurant, a pool and even a helipad. Members must be nominated by current members and be in the arts, literature or science space. http://www.theartsclub.co.uk

Soho House


A pioneer of the modern members club, Soho House has a raft of openings slated for the coming months. New locations on the Lower East Side of New York and in Malibu open this spring then Soho House Barcelona launches in fall 2016, as well as a Soho Warehouse in downtown L.A.’s industrial district in the spring of 2017 and an Amsterdam house that summer. They’ll later branch out to Mumbai, to a beach house in Brighton and the White City House in the former BBC HQ in London.  “I've always wanted to have a second club in New York, on the East Side of Manhattan.” Says Soho House founder Nick Jones of the new Ludlow location. The new house will occupy a former gold-leaf factory in the heart of the Lower East Side complete with a cinema, club-within-a-club and covered rooftop restaurant. www.soholudlowhouse.com
“Barcelona is a city with a unique creative heritage and that spirit continues to pulse through the Catalan capital. We found a great building in the Gothic Quarter, facing Port Vell harbour, and have been busy over the past 18 months bringing it to life,” Jones says of the Barcelona location that will boast a restaurant, club spaces, cinema, Cowshed spa, gym, pool and 57 bedrooms.
The Amsterdam location, housed in a 1920s trading house on a canal in the center of the city, will have a gym, cinema, spa, two floors of club space, 79 bedrooms and a rooftop pool.
http://sohohouse.com  

Spring Place


Spring Studios will open its fashion-focused club in downtown Manhattan by this summer. The studios, which have hosted the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards and shows for Tom Ford, Calvin Klein and Michael Kors, will open a private club on St Johns Place, Tribeca. Notable founding members are a who’s who of fashion world heavyweights, from designers, to supermodels, to leading executives.
The club will offer five tiers of membership for the collaborative workspace that is part professional office and meeting space, part boutique hotel experience. Meeting rooms are equipped with TV and videoconferencing facilities, projector systems and a catering service available upon request. Members have access to a concierge service, administrative support, production assistants, onsite tech support and personal assistants upon request, plus access to the club’s social calendar, event spaces, green rooms and studios at discounted rates.
The members-only social club will feature an all-day restaurant, bar and lounge, two private dining rooms, a living room and music room, plus a 10,000 square foot rooftop. Spring Place’s second location will be housed within a unique 100,000 square foot building in the Arts District of Los Angeles, with other projected developments from Madrid to Miami.  
http://www.springplace.com  

Neuehouse

This hip New York workspace now boasts a West Coast home in L.A. and will open a London location in late 2016. Neuehouse Covent Garden, located just off the Strand and overlooking the River Thames, will occupy a 65,000 square foot space in London’s Adelphi building, built in the 18th century and known for its 1930s Art Deco makeover. The members-only club will, like its American sister clubs, be a mix of leading entrepreneurs and creative teams, but will be the company’s first offshoot outside of North America. Amenities will include a full-service restaurant, meeting rooms, screening room, broadcasting studio, performance space, special event spaces, private dining and a flower shop. http://neuehouse.com  

Thompson House Group

Newcomer to the private members’ club scene, Thompson House Group, unveiled its first location, Thompson Square Studios, in Soho, NYC in February and will open Hills Penthouse in L.A. in May, as well as a London location this year. 
The Soho space boasts a full floor penthouse with 7 boutique private studio spaces, open kitchens and screening and conference rooms. Designed to be a private workspace for the creative industries, the club offers different types of memberships to adapt to each member plus in-house amenities like studio mini bars by Dean & Deluca, a house concierge, members events and screenings, a members luxury house car and private driver and open kitchens that serve breakfast and lunch every day and partner with a selection of local restaurants.
The Hills Penthouse in West Hollywood sits atop Sunset Boulevard’s iconic tower and offers 360 degree views of L.A. plus 9 boutique studio spaces, open kitchens, a gallery, conference and screening rooms and a 2,000 square foot terrace.
http://www.thompsonhousegroup.com  

And pssst … we hear Audrey Gelman is opening a top-secret women’s-only members club in Flatiron. Stay tuned for more details soon.