North Loop's free dog park is gone. The businesses replacing it aren't open yet. September 24, 2026 The corner of North Third Street and Eighth Avenue has been an off-leash dog park for close to fifteen years, and it never cost anyone a dime. Property owner Schafer Richardson let the neighborhood use the vacant lot for free, on the understanding that someday it would sell. Volunteers from the North Loop Neighborhood Association mowed it, fenced it, and collected donations from local business owners to keep it in shape. It was the kind of arrangement that only survives when nobody asks too many questions about when it ends. This year, someone asked. Schafer Richardson sold the parcel to Swervo Development, and the answer arrived in a neighborhood association post: construction would begin in early 2026, and dogs could keep using the lot through January 30, "possibly longer, depending on the weather and the new owner's construction schedule." The Minneapolis Planning Commission signed off on the site plan that February, and the developer told the commission it expected to break ground that spring and finish within twelve to fourteen months. Run that timeline forward and the fenced lot at Third and Eighth has almost certainly been an active construction site for months by now, not a place anyone is walking a dog. What's replacing it is not another storefront. It's a $45,000-square-foot wellness building, the biggest single project this stretch of the North Loop has seen in years, and it is nowhere close to open. What's rising where the dog park used to be. The new building at 760 North Third Street belongs to Bathhouse, a New York-based social wellness company opening its seventh location nationally and its first in Minnesota. The plans call for hot and cold pools, a salt pool, infrared sauna, Banya and Aufguss saunas, steam rooms, Turkish steam baths, a full massage program, and a heated rooftop pool on top. Day passes at Bathhouse's existing New York clubs start at $39. The company has said it wants the North Loop location to hold to that same price point, which is a notable promise for a facility built to fit more than one hundred people in a single sauna. It's also a promise that won't be tested soon. Bathhouse and Swervo Development have targeted an opening in the first half of 2027. Even in the most generous reading of that timeline, the free lot at Third and Eighth will have sat behind a construction fence for the better part of two years before its replacement opens, and when it does open, it will charge admission. That's not the only wellness project on this stretch, either, and the second one is a useful reminder that announced timelines in the North Loop have not been holding. A second Spa is also coming, and it's running late. A few blocks over, Watershed Spa, the communal bathhouse that made its name in a converted Soap Factory building near St. Anthony Main, has been building a second North Loop location at 250 Third Avenue North, in a building now called the Wheelhouse. The space, a former Traffic Zone gallery and later Bev's Wine Bar, is being redeveloped by St. Louis Park-based Crowe Cos. and is meant to include four massage rooms, a communal bathing space, private soaking tubs, a tatami-style room, and a meditation area facing a garden. When Watershed first announced the project in late 2025, the plan was to open in January. By this summer, the company's own FAQ had revised that to "summer 2026," with a caveat baked right into the wording: "the construction process may take longer," because the Wheelhouse carries historic building protections that complicate the build-out. Summer has passed with no confirmed opening. That slippage matters less as a knock on any one developer and more as a pattern: two of the largest projects on these blocks have both pushed their dates back, and the thing they're replacing left on schedule. Here's the corner in one view. | What's changing on Third Street | Address | Status as of September 2026 | | Free off-leash dog park | N 3rd St & 8th Ave | Fenced for Bathhouse construction since spring | | Bathhouse (sauna and pool club) | 760 N Third St | Under construction, targeting first half of 2027 | | Watershed Spa, second location | 250 Third Ave N | Past its "summer 2026" target, no confirmed opening | | PopUp Bagels | 107 Third Ave N | Under construction, targeting October 2026 | The one new business actually tracking to open this fall. If you want proof that smaller projects move faster than campus-scale ones, look at 107 Third Avenue North, in the Saxon Building between Solidcore and Bellecour. That's where PopUp Bagels, the Connecticut-born chain known for selling whole bagels by the bag rather than slicing them, is building its first Minnesota location. Franchisee Dan D'Aquisto told the North Loop Neighborhood Association's Planning and Zoning Committee the roughly 1,700-square-foot shop could open by late September or early October. Strack Construction, the contractor on the build-out, said in a recent update it is targeting completion this October. That's a matter of weeks from now, not a matter of years. One neighborhood detail worth knowing if you haven't heard it: chef Gavin Kaysen, whose restaurants Bellecour, Demi, and Spoon and Stable all sit within a few blocks of the new shop, is reportedly one of D'Aquisto's biggest local supporters. It's a small, specific signal of how tightly wound this stretch of the North Loop already is, restaurant owners rooting for the bagel shop opening next door. The contrast is the point. A 1,700-square-foot storefront is on schedule. Two multimillion-dollar wellness builds are behind schedule. When a corridor like this reshapes itself, it's rarely the biggest projects that arrive first. Smaller moves worth knowing about. A few other changes are happening on a quieter scale along the same blocks: * The NOW, a new massage boutique, is under construction on North Second Street in the same building as the Ten Spot and Red Cow, in the former Queen Anna space. * Clinic Ellena, an aesthetics and wellness practice, is relocating to Third Avenue from its longtime home in St. Anthony Main. * Flower Bar is opening a second Twin Cities location on the ground floor of the Sable building on Third Street. None of these are large enough to shift the character of the neighborhood on their own, but stacked next to Bathhouse and Watershed, they point in the same direction: this stretch of the North Loop is adding paid wellness and personal-care square footage faster than almost anything else. So where do you actually walk the dog. This is the question the neighborhood association is still working on. NLNA vice president David Crary has said the group is looking at land currently controlled by several public agencies as a possible replacement site, but nothing has been finalized in any public update so far. In the meantime, the closest thing to new public space on these blocks is a different project entirely: the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's plan for a half-acre park on Third Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, funded through a roughly $2 million capital concept that includes a small plaza sized for four food trucks, a modest stage, and open lawn. Residents specifically asked the park board to keep the design simple and quiet, and the concept reflects that. It was never intended as a dog run, and nothing in the public planning documents suggests it will become one. Put plainly: the one truly free, informal gathering space this stretch of the North Loop had is already gone for the season, and everything currently scheduled to fill a similar role, Bathhouse, Watershed's second location, even the new park board green space, is either a paid membership business, a day-pass business, or a quiet lawn that isn't built for off-leash dogs. The bagel shop opens first. Everything with real square footage opens over a year from now, if the current timelines hold at all. If you're watching this corner change from a rental a few blocks away, or thinking about how a fast-moving stretch like this factors into a longer view of owning in the North Loop, that's exactly the kind of on-the-ground detail worth talking through before you commit to a decision. SAVIA Group Real Estate works with buyers and owners across the Twin Cities who want to understand a block, not just a listing. Schedule a consultation when you're ready to think it through.

New Glasgow bathhouse and spa to open in city centre. Atera Bathhouse and Spa. (Image: Supplied) A new bathhouse and spa is set to open in Glasgow city centre this October, featuring one of the UK's largest hydrotherapy pools. Atera Bathhouse and Spa will open on Oswald Street with a range of thermal, treatment and wellness facilities. Atera Bathhouse and Spa. (Image: Supplied) The subterranean spa has been designed around Mediterranean bathing traditions, combining thermal bathing with massage, physiotherapy and holistic therapies. Guests will be able to use a hydrotherapy pool, hammam and Rhassoul facilities, alongside guided Aufguss sauna ceremonies. The facilities are designed as part of a connected wellness experience, with thermal treatments intended to prepare guests for massage and other therapies. Atera Bathhouse and Spa. (Image: Supplied) Atera has also partnered with ELEMIS and Comfort Zone, with therapists trained in techniques and treatments from both brands. The spa will offer a range of membership options, starting at £140 per month. Packages will range from fitness access to wider wellness programmes incorporating diagnostic testing and treatments. Kirsty MacCormick, senior vice president of global operations at bbspa Group and head of the UK office, said: "We believe we've recruited some of the best therapists in the country, who share a deep commitment to personalised care. "Their backgrounds are diverse, their skills are highly refined, and they each bring a level of intuition that can't be taught. "Our collaboration with ELEMIS and Comfort Zone is about broadening what our therapists can offer, giving them access to new techniques and approaches so every guest receives something truly individual." Noella Gabriel, CEO and co-founder of ELEMIS, said: "We're delighted to partner with atera Bathhouse and Spa in the heart of Glasgow. "Combining atera's beautiful surroundings with ELEMIS' renowned treatment expertise, the partnership will offer guests a truly elevated experience focused on relaxation, wellbeing and visible results."

The Santa monification of New York City. By Max Kutner Aug. 17, 2026 3 AM PT See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set Lakeview Cottages as preferred * Westside vibes have come for Manhattan and Brooklyn as Los Angeles wellness and social events make their way east. * From Coffee & Chill, an alcohol-free cold plunge party to RummiKlub, a chic gaming night, New York crowds have embraced the imported meet-ups. On a Saturday morning in July, a swimsuit-clad crowd of athletic mostly 20- and 30-somethings jumped in and out of ice baths. A DJ performed from a podium adorned with pink disco balls, brands gave away protein drinks and powders and people competed in a pull-up-bar-hanging competition. With matcha lattes in hand, attendees walked around the synthetic turf filming content. It was all very Santa Monica. Except this wasn't Santa Monica, or even Venice, where the event organizer, Coffee & Chill, started. It wasn't Los Angeles at all. It was a rooftop in Queens. Day parties like this are less common in New York City, but people were into it. "This is so fun," April Zhang-Autio, who often attends art happenings around the city, said while wandering from a cabana area to a merch booth. "You feel like we're in Miami or L.A." L.A. wellness and social events, especially from the Westside, are making inroads in New York City. Besides Coffee & Chill, RummiKlub LA, which started in West Hollywood and throws Rummikub game nights in stylish settings, hosted an event last month at the West Village outpost of San Vicente Clubs, the elite members club operator that is another L.A. transplant. Also last month, SOSO Club, a singles meetup group from Santa Monica, popped up in New York City and returned Sunday. Coffee & Chill attracts L.A. participants who look like they could appear on the upcoming "Baywatch" reboot. But the formula, which includes coffee and cold plunges in what resemble very high-end kiddie pools, has worked elsewhere. Blake Waller, who co-founded the event in 2023 as a way for his friends to gather without alcohol, said they decided to expand as requests came in from people in other cities. First came Miami, followed by New York City in 2025. They also host events in Austin and San Diego. "We didn't really feel that there's anything like it in this space," Waller said, referring to the New York City scene. He cited Bathhouse and Othership, but those hip wellness places are brick-and-mortar establishments, not pop-up events. (In a reversal of the trend, New York City-based Bathhouse is opening a Hollywood location, in the old Amoeba Music space.) Whereas L.A. events are often in parking lots, and Miami ones are by the beach or a pool, Coffee & Chill's New York City organizers have relied on rooftops. At one early event, they had to rig a hose to a bar faucet to fill the ice baths. "Maybe the reality is that Coffee & Chill could have only been born somewhere like L.A. or Miami," Waller said. "Who would think to fill up an ice bath from a water faucet on a rooftop in Chelsea?" The gatherings in each city have their own character, Waller said. "The L.A. events feel different than the Miami events, that feel different than Austin, that feel different than New York," he said. Each city has local organizers. "That's a space that they want to create, rather than us being transplants," he said. Still, local flavor only goes so far. Looking at photos from each of the cities, it can sometimes be hard to tell where they are. "When it comes to the actual event experience, I would say that there is a decent amount of consistency, in terms of what the tubs look like, the merch, what that looks like, even the touch points of what brands we're working with," Waller said. To be sure, L.A. winds up with events from New York City too. Endorphins Running, which I run with, started in 2022 in New York City before expanding to other cities, including Los Angeles, where it hosts runs twice a week in Santa Monica. The Dinner Table Club, where strangers eat together, also launched in New York City and expanded to L.A. But the L.A. to New York City pipeline seems to be a newer trend. Another series, RummiKlub LA, launched in early 2025 and has hosted three events in New York City. The city has plenty of board game gatherings, but founders Marnie Wekselblatt and Laura Galvan, both L.A. residents originally from New York, intend for this one to feel more chic, with RummiKlub-branded game sets and post-game cocktails. "It's not just bringing your board to a cafe or a park. It's really like a night out, where you can get dressed up, have cocktails, mingle, meet friends, and there's a whole night after the game play is done," Galvan said. Past L.A. locations have included buzzy restaurant Craig's and the West Hollywood Edition hotel on the Sunset Strip. New York City actually came to them. Wekselblatt and Galvan said Tao Group Hospitality approached them about hosting events, resulting in back-to-back game nights at Moxy Lower East Side in July 2025. The people who attended, some of them visiting from L.A., were dressed for a nightclub, not a board game night. The New York and L.A. crowds are similar. "Both cities are really interested in these gaming experiences," Wekselblatt said. "Everyone has the same end goal and wants to be part of RummiKlub because it's this curated event and night out that's different from the traditional going for drinks and standing at a bar." The events are similar too. "It almost feels like we're copy-and-pasting on different coasts," Galvan said. "I wouldn't say that we necessarily have an intention to bring L.A. to New York... but from a logistics standpoint, I would say that the flow of the event is pretty much standard throughout." Meanwhile, SOSO founders Stephanie Scheele and Mackenzie Zoppi heard the demand from New York after launching their dating event in Santa Monica in 2023. SOSO, or Singles Only Social Club, was born out of a growing desire among young professionals for in-person connections following the pandemic and years of dating app fatigue. New York was just as full of fed-up daters as Los Angeles, so they brought SOSO east. "We have friends in New York and we know it's difficult to date in those places," Zoppi said. "We had people messaging us constantly asking us, 'When are you coming to New York?'" They've had around seven events in New York City and Brooklyn. Sometimes the founders fly in to host, while other times they enlist what they called a small "boots on the ground" team. "Whether you're in L.A. or New York, people want the same exact thing: an excuse to get off their phones and get out of the house and meet people face to face," Zoppi said. Still, the organizers don't want their New York City events to feel like L.A. ones. Zoppi added, "We want people to date the New York way." A version of this story originally appeared on Max Kutner's Zephyr Letter substack. The essential weekly guide to enjoying the outdoors in Southern California. Insider tips on the best of its beaches, trails, parks, deserts, forests and mountains. By continuing, you agree to its Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that Lakeview Cottages and its third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in its Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads. Max Kutner Max Kutner is an award-winning, multi-platform journalist who has written for the Wall Street Journal, Hollywood Reporter, Boston Globe, Wired and other publications. He was the host and creator of the Audible podcast "Radicalized." He frequently appears as a commentator on television and radio.