A pair of local fitness and sauna studios have a new owner who plans to refashion them into a concept that recently debuted on Larimer Square.
The RiNo and Central Park locations of Upswell, which founder Heather Holland described as a “wellness club,” have sold to locally based chain Spavia.
Holland, a former CorePower Yoga executive who opened the first Upswell on South Broadway in 2023, also joined Spavia as chief operating officer in June, she said.
The sale did not include the South Broadway location, which hasn’t operated since the fall and which is facing a lawsuit from its landlord.
“It’s this entrepreneur and founder moment to not hold onto an idea in its original form forever,” Holland told BusinessDen. “And the idea now is to give neighborhood wellness a chance to outlive me and its original form.”
Spavia, a massage and spa center, was started 20 years ago by local couple Allison and Marty Langenderfer. It has since become a franchise with about 60 locations around the country.
The Upswells at 3636 Blake St. in RiNo and 2271 Clinton St. in Central Park, which opened within the past two years, are undergoing renovations to become Spavia’s newest concept, called Sway.
Sway opened its first spot in early 2025 on Larimer Square, where it will continue to operate. Memberships there run $100 to $160 a month.
Along with the saunas, cold plunges, compression and infrared therapy that Upswell has become known for, Sway will feature massage therapists and skin care professionals where Upswell’s yoga studios used to be. Sway will also have an artificial intelligence-powered machine massager called Aescape, Holland said.
The saunas and cold plunges are currently open as the rest of the space gets built out, which Holland said is cosmetic and not structural. Sway plans to be fully open by the end of the summer, she said, and will be run day to day by Emily Langenderfer, the daughter of Spavia’s founders.
“You’re going to see more enhanced warmth and attention to detail as far as lighting and little touches of design and hospitality that you wouldn’t find in a more athletic yoga studio,” Holland said of Sway, which she described as a “wellness spa.”
“Emily is really taking this thing that her parents have done so well for decades and reimagining it for the modern urban athletic,” she added.
Upswell’s first studio at 1842 S. Broadway hasn’t had as lucky a fate.
It’s been closed since October, when Holland told BusinessDen that “regulatory ambiguity” around its above-ground cold plunge could’ve led to a six-figure construction project. Around that time, she also pared back hours in RiNo and Central Park to reevaluate the business, which ultimately ended in the Sway deal.
The construction project never happened, and, according to Upswell’s landlord, the business left the Platt Park property at the end of April with more than a year remaining on its lease.
Landlord Steven Cook, who owns a number of South Broadway properties, alleges that Holland and Upswell owe him $183,000 in back rent. Holland declined to comment on specifics.
“But when we file our response, we believe it will reflect more than two years of consistent, good faith effort to work collaboratively toward practical solutions,” she said.
As for the Upswell name and branding, Holland said it could make a comeback. She didn’t sell that to Spavia, and she’s thinking of returning to its roots as a park fitness get-together, she said. During and coming out of the pandemic lockdown, she ran bring-your-own-mat classes for City Park and other spots around Denver.
Bringing back a similar thing would help local independent teachers stay active in a time when so many branded fitness studios have popped up, Holland said.
“Cold plunging wasn’t a thing. There wasn’t a place to go sauna,” she said about when she started Upswell. “And now it’s about finding that right structure to bring it into the future.”
