A popular fitness studio is opening a second Tri-City
location at a visible Southridge corner in Kennewick this spring.
Orangetheory Fitness franchise owner Richard Cote said
he’d been searching for a location for a while, making offers on three
different places before moving quickly when the former Zpizza closed at 4101 W.
27th Place in Kennewick.
“Things work the way they’re supposed to, and it just so
happened this building came free and we moved very swiftly on it,” Cote said.
Cote and his wife, Melissa, own the Orangetheory franchise
in Richland, as well as two others in Spokane. They hold franchise rights to
Eastern Washington for the national brand and are looking at putting another
two to three studios in their territory, possibly in Yakima and Pullman.
A typical 60-minute Orangetheory Fitness class includes
use of a treadmill, stationary rower and weight room.
The new location at the corner of West 27th Place and
Highway 395 is similar in size to the current studio at 1034 Queensgate Drive
in Richland, which opened in summer 2017.
For those familiar with the fitness studio, Cote expects
the Southridge location to offer a similar number of workout stations as the
Richland studio opened with. It can now accommodate up to 45 people in a single
class.
As the only Orangetheory Fitness location in the area,
some members have been anxious for another studio to open, Cote said.
“We wanted to allow Richland to mature and develop some
brand equity first,” he said.
Cote praised the assistance provided by the city of
Kennewick as he worked to find a suitable location for the new gym. He said
Kennewick was supportive of his effort to locate a new franchise there and kept
in frequent contact.
“The city’s leadership holds economic development as a top
priority, and we want to ensure that every business, large and small, is
provided with every resource in our toolbox to make a successful financial
investment in our community,” said Miles S. Thomas, economic development
manager for the city of Kennewick. “The city provides site selection
assistance, referrals to business planning and financing resources and a
five-week maximum development review on new construction.”
Kennewick also assists businesses through an express
permitting program that can turn commercial tenant improvement permits around
within 72 hours.
The studio investment in Kennewick is likely to run
$750,000 and is targeted to open by the beginning of May 2020, Cote said.
It will join more than 1,100 studios nationwide, with half
a million members across the globe, according to its corporate website.
The Cotes are accepting applications and resumes for
fitness coaches and a studio manager, and expect to hire about half a dozen
people. Those interested in employment may send their qualifications to
mcote@orangetheoryfitness.com.