A site on the West Plains owned by a Spokane-area fitness chain is scheduled to be auctioned off at a trustee's sale on May 28 to satisfy more than $500,000 in debt on the property.

M-R Fitness Inc., owned by Michael Lee, had announced plans in 2008 to construct a building for a new Global Fitness location at the 4.5-acre property, located along Garfield Road, just south of U.S. 2, in Airway Heights. M-R Fitness bought the land for $544,500 in 2008, from West Plains Business Park LLC, Spokane County records say.

Lee said at the time of the purchase that he planned to build a 50,000- to 60,000-square-foot Global Fitness Outlet there, but later told the Journal of Business that it had been challenging to find financing for such a project in the poor economy. Lee couldn't be reached for comment on the pending trustee's sale.

The notice of foreclosure says that M-R Fitness owes $503,000 in principal on the loan, plus interest and other fees, and that it has been in default on the loan since Sept. 1, 2009.

The trustee, Washington Foreclosure Services Inc., of Spokane, is expected to auction the property May 28, if the entire amount owed is not paid by then. Proceeds of the sale would be used to pay the principal amount, plus late charges and delinquent real estate taxes for 2009 on the property.

Two Global Fitness locations are operating here, one in Spokane Valley, at 14210 E. Sprague, in a building owned by the Sprague Partnership, of Beverly Hills, Calif., and the other on the North Side, at 110 W. Price, in a building owned by M3K LLC, of Spokane Valley. Global Fitness previously operated a separate women's fitness center and a smaller gym in Spokane Valley. It has moved the women's center into its North Side gym, and now just operates the two locations.

The West Plains facility was to include basketball courts, an indoor running track, a weight room, a child-care area, and a pool, Lee said earlier. He expected then to employ about 45 full- and part-time employees there.