Thomas Breen photo
The former Elks Lodge 25 at 522-528 State St. Below: Jared Keith shows off the new gym’s facade.
A New York City-based architect plans to convert the former Elks Lodge on State Street into a new gym on one side of the building, and a new restaurant on the other.
Anthony Arnold of Syndicate Build, LLC detailed those plans Tuesday night during the regular monthly Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting on the ground floor of 200 Orange St.
Sitting beside prospective gym operators Jared Keith and Michael Deane, Arnold said that his construction and design company has spent the past year demolishing, reinforcing, and rebuilding the interior of the former Elks Lodge 25 at 522 – 528 State St. to make way for a new restaurant and membership gym.
Keith and Anthony Arnold: This spot is the “eastern face of downtown.”
The three appeared before the commissioners Tuesday as part of Arnold’s application for a special exception to permit zero off-street parking spaces where eight are required city zoning regulations for the use of a gym.
“We think this location on State Street is really the eastern face of downtown,” Arnold said, in a pedestrian-friendly and transit-rich area right across from the State Street train station, two bike share stations, and several bus stops.
He estimated that half of the gym’s members and staff will get to the location by foot or by bicycle.
He added that the former Elks Club had seating for 190 people with no on-site parking, while this new venture is asking for an exception for only eight spaces.
According to city land records, 522 – 528 State Street LLC, a holding company owned by Arnold, purchased the building for $450,000 in April 2019.
Attendees at Tuesday night’s BZA meeting.
Arnold said that the gym will be called The Lab Fitness. It will take up roughly 3,200 square feet of the existing 3,920 square-foot structure. Arnold estimated that the gym should be constructed and open by late spring or early summer.
He said the remaining area of the building will be dedicated to a new restaurant. He said he’s already signed a lease for the space with a chef named Malcolm Greene. The menu is still in the works, he said, but the restaurant will likely serve breakfast food and smoothies.
Arnold added that the building also will have space for a rooftop deck. How that space might be used is yet to be determined.
The BZA commissioners referred the parking relief request to the City Plan Commission, and should take a final vote on the application at its March meeting.
Good use. The city is under-gym'd and sounds like the eatery will be complementary. There's not a lot of healthy options on State Street.