Massive 'wellness and social club' planned for former Ottawa Canadian Tire store

Altea Active is planning a 129,000-square-foot 'wellness and social club' in the former Canadian Tire at Carling and Clyde avenues. (Rendering: Altea Active)

A fitness and lifestyle company is planning to open a massive new facility in the old Canadian Tire store at Carling and Clyde avenues.

Altea Active is planning to open a 129,000-square-foot "wellness and social club" that will include nine fitness studios, a 25-metre pool, pickleball courts, a women's-only gym, and even a meditation lounge with its own Himalayan salt wall.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Altea Active to the Ottawa community,” said Michael Nolan, the company's co-founder and COO, said in a news release.

“Much more than a gym, our club is a social wellness experience that offers premium studio fitness programs, equipment, and services to like-minded, wellness-conscious people sharing the same journey."

The former Canadian Tire store at 1660 Carling Ave. closed when the company opened its new location farther west at Carlingwood Mall, its largest store in Canada.

RioCan, which owns the former Canadian Tire site, unveiled plans earlier this month to build six mixed-used buildings on the site. But those plans appear to have been shelved.

Altea has two clubs across Canada. They opened an 80,000-square-foot facility in November 2019, an 89,000-square-foot club in Toronto's Liberty Village in March 2022. A third club in Vancouver is slated to open this fall.

FITNESS TRAINING AND 'LUXURY HOSPITALITY'

Altea Active Ottawa will offer "boutique studio fitness, state-of-the-art strength and cardio, personal and small-group training, and luxury hospitality," the company's news release said.

The club will offer more than 200 classes per week across nine studio spaces, including hot yoga, pilates, a theatre-style cycle studio, boxing, and an antigravity fitness studio.

There will also be a dedicated women's-only studio and a signature studio featuring "HIIT, core, dance, boot camps and other strength and cardio sessions."

The club will also include an eight-court indoor pickleball club, a five-lane 25-metre pool and a women's only club for cardio and strength training.

There will also be a recovery lounge including “massage therapy, compression and vibration therapies, and cold plunge immersion, and a Meditation Lounge with its own Himalayan salt wall,” the release said.

The club will also include golf simulators, an outdoor deck for "member socials and private functions" and relaxation and informal meeting spaces including a smoothie bar and Starbucks. And there will be a space for children, including a mini gym.