Warren Gendel and Scott Raymond at their soon-to-open Club Evexia at 100 Shoreline Center.
Longtime Marin resident Warren Gendel has been in the fitness industry for more than three decades. He pioneered the health and fitness club Fitness Wize Inc. in San Rafael in the 1990s. In the 2000s, he founded Fitwize 4 Kids, a healthy lifestyle center for youth to address the rising epidemic of childhood inactivity and the need for youth sports strength training. Gendel then created Well-Fit, a consulting and management company whose expertise spanned the fitness sector, from design and development of gyms to corporate wellness programming.
Given that pedigree and output, it’s not surprising that eventually Gendel, joined by his friend and business partner Scott Raymond, got the itch to create something brand new. That something new is Club Evexia, which they’ve envisioned as a fitness, health, and wellness business that could serve the broadest swath of people possible, all while being laser focused on their full array of clients.
The duo’s quest was stymied at first, however, by their inability to find a right-sized space that checked all the boxes for the kind of full-service fitness facility they sought. Their hunt sent them throughout the North Bay and beyond. And then their broker showed them at 100 Shoreline Hwy., the monstrous space formerly occupied by Glassdoor, the tech firm founded in Marin that relocated its headquarters to San Francisco in recent years.
“We were just stunned – all the moons aligned,” Gendel says. “It represents way more than just a gym, and we’ll be able to do everything we’ve wanted to do – all under one roof.”
“We were blown away by the space – our entire perspective opened up,” adds Raymond, whose career has largely been in real estate investment and who is overseeing Evexia’s wellness programs.
Gendel and Raymond inked a deal to lease 16,000 square feet of space in the building, enough room to have a massive gym, high-intensity interval training, TRX, group spin classes that can easily be moved to the outdoor deck overlooking Richardson Bay and a large health and wellness space that includes meditation, yoga, Pilates and breathwork, among others.
“Most gyms don’t offer much in the way of mind and body – we’re very much hoping to change that,” Raymond says, noting that they plan to leverage the bounty of great outdoor spaces nearby for trail running, boot camps and more, providing all members with access to Bio-Scan technology.
Raymond and Gendel plan for a soft opening in December and a grand opening in January 2022. In the meantime, they’re taking pre-orders, as they intend to cap total membership count to ensure the best experience possible for its members.
“Southern Marin has been on my radar for 30 years,” Gendel says. “I just never had an opportunity – but it’s all coming together now.”