A former assistant coach for UFC's Team Shevchenko is turning a century-old radio factory into Jersey City's newest fitness destination. CULTR Athletic Club has signed a lease for 12,000 square feet of ground-floor space at Radio Lofts, the adaptive reuse project at 316 15th Street, with an opening targeted for the first quarter of 2027.
The announcement came from RXR, according to Hoboken Girl, which reports that the new club will combine a traditional gym, boutique-style fitness classes, recovery amenities, and a café under one roof. About 6,000 square feet is dedicated to open gym and training space, with strength training, HIIT, yoga, mat Pilates, and other group classes on the schedule, plus a dedicated infrared hot yoga and Pilates studio.
Founder Richie Van Houten described the vision simply: CULTR Athletic Club will combine workouts, classes, equipment, and recovery amenities in one environment, per the same outlet's report. Van Houten is a New Jersey native, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and boxing and MMA coach who spent more than a decade in fitness and martial arts, having previously owned UFC Gym Hoboken and worked as an undefeated professional MMA fighter.
A Recovery Wing Built for the Cold-Plunge Boom
Roughly 3,500 square feet of the new space is set aside for wellness and recovery, featuring a 50-person sauna, a 20-person steam room, a hot pool, and a cold plunge. That buildout tracks with a broader shift in the fitness industry: Nordic-inspired wellness experiences grew by 62.5% between 2024 and 2025, with attendance rising 32.8%, according to Fitt Insider. An on-site café will round things out with coffee, protein drinks, and smoothies.
Van Houten's fitness resume extends well beyond Jersey City gym ownership. He served as an assistant coach for Team Shevchenko on Season 32 of UFC's The Ultimate Fighter in 2024, according to Wikipedia. He also trained under Marcelo Garcia and authored the instructional series Striking For MMA Fundamentals, distributed through Dynamic Striking. He also runs Prestige Property Group, a New Jersey real estate brokerage.
CULTR Fight Club Stays Put Across the Block
Van Houten has operated CULTR Fight Club nearby for the past three years, and the outlet's report notes the original studio will continue running out of Hudson House East, which spans 27 stories with 351 rental residences and almost 3,000 square feet of retail space at 315 15th Street, according to Hudson House Lofts. That location will keep its focus on boxing, kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, and other martial arts training, staying distinct from the broader wellness offerings planned at the new Radio Lofts club.
Inside the Building's Industrial Past
Radio Lofts itself carries a deep industrial history. The five-story building was constructed in the 1920s for the Continental Can Company and later operated for decades by Emerson Radio, manufacturing radios, televisions, and records, according to New York YIMBY. The 320,000-square-foot structure completed construction in April, with 140 loft-style residential units featuring 11.5-foot ceilings and exposed brick, per Traded.
The project sits within the larger Hudson House collection, which includes Radio Lofts, Hudson House East, and Hudson House West, totaling 829 residences and approximately 48,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space across the SoHo West neighborhood. Businesses throughout the collection span fitness, wellness, dining, pet care, beauty, childcare, and other neighborhood services. The development was acquired through a joint venture involving RXR, Columbia Property Trust, Strategic Value Partners, and One Investment Management, who purchased the project from original builder Manhattan Building Company, according to Jersey Digs.
SoHo West's Ongoing Transformation
The neighborhood name itself is a relatively recent invention. SoHo West, short for South of Hoboken West, was coined by real estate developers in 2017 to market luxury residential lofts along the border between Jersey City and Hoboken, per 6sqft. To support commuter transit in the area, Hudson House provides shuttle service for residents to the Hoboken PATH station.
Exact membership pricing for CULTR Athletic Club, whether existing CULTR Fight Club members will get dual access to both facilities, and the build-out timeline inside the Radio Lofts retail space remain open questions ahead of the planned first-quarter 2027 launch.
