Yoga Public is coming back to life at its former downtown Winnipeg location.

The popular business will reopen its doors in a 16,000-square-foot space at 280 Fort Street on September 14. Yoga Public closed in 2022 after being hit hard by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The renaissance comes after the Manitoba Métis Federation bought the property. Founder Ida Albo has resumed ownership of Yoga Public and rehired many teachers at what she has described as “Canada’s largest yoga playground.”

“The MMF continues to deliver on its responsibility to do our part to revitalize downtown as the economic heart of the City and Province we helped build, and we are always happy to welcome business partners who are equally invested in our downtown,” said David Chartrand, president of the MMF, in a news release.

“I invited businesses to unite with us at last month’s announcement highlighting our most recent large-scale investment in downtown Winnipeg,” he added, referring to the MMF’s purchase of two office towers and a parking lot from Artis REIT.

“I commend Ida Albo, a renowned business leader, for heeding the call and working with us to reopen Yoga Public, bringing more people to downtown with a premium wellness offering.”

The MMF has purchased, and is redeveloping, a number of downtown buildings to provide employment for federation members and boost the city’s economy. Among its notable moves, the MMF is converting a former Bank of Montreal building into a Métis heritage centre. The MMF also bought Wawanesa Insurance’s former head office building and relocated 300 federation employees into it.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported that the MMF bought the 280 Fort Street site after Albo approached Chartrand with the idea.

Chartrand previously voiced plans to open a boutique hotel there. But he told the Free Press that city officials blocked the efforts due to uncertainty about chemicals within the building’s foundation, and a hotel conversion would require extensive renovations.

In a speech at which Yoga Public’s reopening was announced, Albo said Yoga Public would have gone bankrupt if the MMF had not purchased the property, the Free Press reported.

Photo: Yoga Public