Manitoba

Gym passes final hurdle to take over American Apparel space in Osborne Village

​A new gym should be open in Osborne Village by the end of this year.

Anytime Fitness to open by end of 2017

The former American Apparel location in Osborne Village will become a gym by the end of 2017. (CBC)

A new gym should be open in Osborne Village by the end of this year.

On Wednesday, Anytime Fitness owners got approval from city hall to use the former American Apparel space as a gym.

Victor Barnabe is the co-owner of the franchise location and said construction will begin within about a week.

"We had looked at another space in the Village but it just didn't work out and then this space became available," he said. "Once this became available, we looked at it and saw it would work for us."

He worked with the Osborne Village BIZ and said the process was relatively easy, but the toughest part of the process was just getting the permit from city hall.

The gym will be competing with at least two others nearby. Snap Fitness is just down the street, and around the corner from that location is Brickhouse Gym.

Barnabe said Anytime Fitness is closer to the Snap model, but they aren't worried about competition from the two spots.

 "We're just excited. We're excited for the area. We think Osborne Village is really going to welcome us," he said.