A massive new bathhouse is headed for Seattle's Denny Triangle. Ember, an 8,800-square-foot social bathhouse and thermal wellness center, has signed a 15-year lease on the third floor of the east tower at Aero1200, the sprawling mixed-use development rising at 1200 Stewart St.
The lease, first detailed in a LinkedIn post from Jessika Scannell, covers a space that will include steam rooms, cold plunges, two baths, two saunas and a wellness bar. As bizjournals.com reports, the bathhouse will have saunas, cold plunges and a wellness bar inside the Denny Triangle project's east tower.
A Sauna Big Enough to Double as an Event Space
One of Ember's saunas is designed to hold up to 46 people, which the LinkedIn post describes as the biggest sauna in the city. Per WhatNow, that larger sauna is planned to double as an event space. The wellness bar is expected to serve nonalcoholic beverages, WhatNow reports.
Co-founder Joe Kelley told the outlet that Ember is not a traditional spa.
From a Stockholm Wedding to a Seattle Waiting List
Kelley separately visited bathhouses in Japan. The founders initially considered building a bathhouse from the ground up before ultimately selecting Aero1200.
Ember already had nearly 1,600 people on its waiting list, according to WhatNow.
Aero1200's Bigger Bet on Denny Triangle
Aero1200's Bigger Bet on Denny Triangle Ember is just one piece of a much larger build-out at Aero1200. The project is comprised of two 47-storey residential towers resting on a three-storey commercial podium, according to henriquezpartners.com, with the residential towers housing more than 1,000 units. The same LinkedIn post notes that with construction underway, the development is on track for completion in 2027, and it's slated to include nearly 100,000 square feet of retail along with a 40,000-square-foot music venue from Live Nation.
Ember will not be the only large wellness concept competing for Seattle attention. Henry's Gymnasium is separately planning a 45,000-square-foot club called Sanctuary that will combine fitness, recovery, coworking and medical wellness services, according to a bizjournals.com report on Denny Triangle's shifting retail scene. Smaller operators have also found an audience: Seattle Sauna, a floating sauna on Lake Union run by the entrepreneurs behind Lake Union Hot Tub Boats, built its experience around a Finnish hot-cold-rest cycle, per cedarandstonesauna.com.
What the Law Says About Bathhouses
What the Law Says About Bathhouses Under RCW 70.90.160, a permit is required for construction of or modification to a recreational water contact facility built after June 11, 1986 — though the available evidence does not establish whether Ember's planned space falls under that requirement, or what permitting steps, if any, have been taken so far.
