Construction for the new $14 million, 70,0000-square-foot facility is slated to begin this spring on Frank Nighbour Drive, near Palladium Drive and across from Costco and Home Depot. The club should be open by 2014, according to a company release.
The Kanata location will add to The Athletic Club’s existing Ottawa presence in Orleans and at the Ottawa Train Yards, and will bring 100 permanent jobs to the region.
The expansion plan comes three years after the club first entered the local market and said it intended to open five clubs in the National Capital Region, giving no timeline for the developments.
In a July interview with OBJ, The Athletic Club managing partner David Wu said the company still viewed Ottawa as a “favourable” economy and had “firm plans” to expand to other parts of the city, but confidentiality agreements prohibited him from discussing those plans.
Company officials previously said they intended to construct gyms in Kanata and two other unidentified areas.
The Athletic Club started in London, Ont. in 1997 and has grown to 10 locations across Ontario over the past 15 years. Kanata will be the company’s 11th location and will include numerous programs including anti-gravity yoga, two saltwater pools, a smoothie bar, an outdoor multi-purpose court and a daycare facility.
More than 77,000 members attend The Athletic Club across the province in facilities that are staffed by more than 1,200 employees, according to the company. The Orleans facility opened in November 2010 and the Ottawa Train Yards club launched in February 2011.
New branches of The Athletic Club, GoodLife Fitness, Free Form Fitness and Snap Fitness are capturing the remaining people in Ottawa who are interested in joining clubs.
Approximately 13 per cent of the Canadian population work out in gyms on a regular basis, according to Jane Riddell, GoodLife Fitness’s chief operating officer. The largest fitness company in Canada, GoodLife serves one in every 45 Canadians with more than 300 clubs across Canada, according to the company’s website.
.jpg)
Second that on squash courts. Always good to see a nice facility like that being planned.