After six years of planning and more than a year on construction, Wesley Chapel finally has a YMCA of its own.
And judging by the early response, residents were ready for it.
More than 6,300 members had already signed up when the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA officially opened the doors Sept. 28 to the new Mary W. Sierra Family YMCA, a $35-million, 49,319-square-foot facility at 4379 Wellbeing Way.
“Impact, true positive community impact, is going to run rampant on this campus,” Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA President & CEO Matt Mitchell said at the ceremony.
The two-story facility, located next to BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, is the first YMCA in the growing Wesley Chapel area and is expected to serve approximately 40,000 households and create more than 300 new jobs.
It’s opening gives those residents a YMCA much closer to home, and there is plenty to do once they get there.
The campus features an aquatics center with lap and teaching pools, a family adventure pool with a waterslide, as well as a gymnasium, group exercise studios and a large fitness center with cardio and strength equipment.
It also features Stay & Play childcare and EGYM technology, which tracks member’s fitness and can personalize workouts.
Programming will include youth sports, swim lessons, summer camps and activities for teens and seniors, along with wellness and chronic-disease prevention programs.
The YMCA estimates its immediate service area includes more than 27,000 children and 20,000 seniors.
The facility is named for philanthropist Mary W. Sierra, who attended the Sept. 28 ribbon cutting. Her husband, Bob Sierra, also has a YMCA bearing his name — the Bob Sierra Family YMCA in Northdale.
The couple established the Mary and Bob Sierra Family Foundation, which has donated millions of dollars to organization and causes primarily involving education and human services.
The Wesley Chapel YMCA was developed in partnership with BayCare Health System, which leased the land for the YMCA next to BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, which opened in 2023. YMCA and BayCare officials say the location is perfect, combining traditional fitness with preventative health and wellness.
“When we think of healthcare, it occurs in hospitals. It occurs in clinics,” said Dr. Christopher Bucciarelli, BayCare vice president of ambulatory service and chief medical officer. “But health, health occurs every day in places like this.”
The project broke ground in May 2025, although efforts to bring a YMCA to Wesley Chapel took root years before.
It was initially announced in late 2020 with plans to break ground in 2021 and open in 2023.
Covid and other issues put the brakes on what at the time was expected to be a 30,000-square-foot project with a $15 million price tag. The final product exceeded both those projections.
For the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, which traces its history to 1889 and operates facilities throughout Hillsborough and East Pasco counties, the Wesley Chapel opening is a major expansion into one of the Tampa Bay area’s fastest growing communities.
After years of driving elsewhere for YMCA programs and other sports and exercise related activities, residents hungry for things to do now have a place right in their own backyard.