Fitness studio franchise expands to Kennewick

Orangetheory Fitness to open in Southridge area this spring

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.