About Us
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDERS
EMBER began with a simple belief: life is better when the right people come together in the right place.
We know this firsthand. Years ago, we met at a private wellness club in Chicago, and the friendships and opportunities that grew out of that one place changed the course of our lives. EMBER is how we bring that to Minneapolis.
We also know how much lighter a long week feels after a great workout, a real conversation, or a meal with people you’re genuinely glad to see. But those things have always lived in different places, on different sides of town. Train here, work there, eat somewhere else. We wanted to bring them all under one roof. That’s EMBER.
A home in the North Loop where you can move, recover, get your work done, share a great meal, and run into someone worth running into, all in one day, all in one place. Fitness, recovery, workspace, and food and beverage worth lingering over, woven into a single membership and a single community.
Minneapolis is ready for this. This is a city that shows up for one another, and we built EMBER to give that spirit a home.
We’re keeping membership intentionally limited, because a place like this only reaches its potential when the right people are in it.
We’re building this for people who care about how they spend their time, and who they spend it with. If that sounds like you, we’d love to welcome you.
Warmly,
Robb Leone and Tony Vasquez, EMBER Founders
The Team Behind EMBER
We share a conviction: that the right experiences and the right communities change how people live. People in cities can live better, more vibrant, more connected, more present, and the right environment is what gets them there.
We met at BIÂN, the private social wellness club in Chicago. Robb was a founding leader there and built the membership culture that set a new standard for private wellness clubs. Tony was a member from opening day, and has spent more than a decade at design and real estate development firms creating places where thousands of people live, eat, train and work.
Together, we saw firsthand what the right environment does for a person. We looked for something like it in Minneapolis, complete enough and convenient enough to actually use. We could not find it, so we decided to build it.
The Building
A century-old warehouse in the North Loop.
EMBER occupies four floors of the Newell Building at 300 N 6th Avenue. Originally built for George R. Newell Grocers in 1923, it is being revitalized for a new purpose.
We chose the North Loop because the people we are building EMBER for already live, work, and socialize here. It is also where we call home. We look forward to meeting you.
One Membership.A more vibrant, connected life.
Elevated fitness, recovery, coworking, dining, and community at one address in the North Loop. Opening Spring 2027.
From $300/mo
Explore Membership