Rain City Fit doing some heavy lifting with plans for transformation of Capitol Hill auto row-era garage into new RCF Barbell Club

The more than 100-year-old garage is being lined up for redevelopment on Boylston Ave

Trainers like Kyle McKee are part of the Rain City Fit lifting community (Image: Rain City Fit)

A Capitol Hill fitness row is coming together on Boylston Ave. The new project could be a good sign for smaller, local real estate deals after a year of big brands backing out of their Capitol Hill investments. It is also a strong sign for the growth of one of Capitol Hill’s most popular home-grown fitness communities.

Permits and development paperwork show a former auto-row era service garage on Boylston just around the corner from E Pine is being readied for a new Rain City Fit project.

Development of the RCF Barbell Club will transform the 1923-era garage into a new 6,000-square-foot gym.

The Boylston project is a major investment for the Hill-based gym. Rain City Fit’s Ben Koenigsberg purchased the auto row-era property last year for $2.7 million according to King County records.

Koenigsberg currently runs RCF Barbell Clubs in a variety of flavors — there is a RCF Barbell Club and RCF Power Bottom duo on E Pine near Fire Station 25, and a RCF Barbell Sodo location.

The center of Rain City Fit is currently its main gym on 11th Ave. In 2017, CHS reported as Koenigsberg was planning his move into former home of The Crypt, the west coast chain kink shop that had folded in Pike/Pine two years earlier.

Rain City Fit has continued to grow and has been an active part of Capitol Hill’s fitness and queer business communities while growing a team of trainers who reflect the area.

Last year’s listing for the property touted it as a mixed-use development opportunity but new housing is not currently part of the plan

On Boylston, the new RCF project will make for some interesting workout partners. It is lined up to neighbor the Capitol Hill location of the Seattle Henry’s Gym chain which opened its “part gym, part bar” concept on the street in late 2024.

It will be the latest auto row transformation on the street joining the Henry’s project in the $6.2 million adaptive reuse overhaul of The Boylston Garage by developer Asana Partners.

With the Rain City Fit redevelopment, the block’s remaining auto row remnant will be the parking garage where the neighborhood’s Enterprise car rental service somehow still operates.

Most recently, the old garage where the new Rain City Fit is taking shape was home to the long-time fixer of pretty much anything with an engine, Universal Repair Shop. While it represents yet another small slice at the last vestiges of the neighborhood’s past, the change for Universal Repair is also positive. The shop’s owners, the Schwennsen family, also owned the building.

Now it is Koenigsberg’s turn to shepherd 1611 Boylston and the old Universal Repair garage into the neighborhood’s next era.

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