Vacant Ultra Foods To Become Fitness Center – Joliet, IL Patch

Joliet's Ultra Foods location sits vacant on Tuesday. A new health club will be taking over the property in the coming months. — Joliet’s Ultra Foods location sits vacant on Tuesday. A new health club will be taking over the property in the coming months. (Photo by John Ferak, Joliet Patch Editor)

JOLIET, IL — The Ultra Foods store on Larkin Avenue has been sitting vacant the past three years, but Joliet city manager Steve Jones has some good news to share. Vasa Fitness will be moving into the empty grocery store, Jones informed Joliet Patch on Tuesday.

The empty building used to be a Cub Foods back in the day.

According to Jones, Vasa Fitness plans to use about 58,900 square feet of commercial space. The remaining 18,780 square feet will be available for lease to another tenant.

According to continues to expand across the U.S.

It has 45 exercise gyms in six states including Aurora, Colorado, Oklahoma City, Orem, Utah, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona and Wichita, Kansas.

Last month, Vasa Fitness announced it would be opening two more locations in Indiana, one in Indianapolis and the other in Lafayette.

The upcoming addition of the Vasa Fitness club will certainly be welcome news for the other tenants at Joliet’s North Ridge Plaza, Jones told Patch.

Since Ultra Foods closed in 2017, the city has received numerous referrals about the property. He said there was interest from Aldi as well as from someone interested in opening an indoor concert hall, Jones told Patch on Tuesday.

“I’m happy that the use is occurring and it will bring more people into that center. The added traffic also helps the other folks who are in that center,” Jones said.