Can there be a more firm sign of change on Capitol Hill — and specifically, north Broadway — than the million dollar transformation of the former home of the drink-but-don’t-eat Jade Pagoda into a Bank of America and a new-era workout gym? And, oh, yeah, there’s another new restaurant coming soon to the space, too.

This weekend, the transformation of 606 Broadway E gets a little more muscular as “high energy” workout studio Lab5 Fitness opens for business.

We reported on the incoming new gym back in January. Since then, there’s been a brand change and another hundred thousand in construction budget spent, according to city records, to complete an open workout space full of equipment for things like “power pilates” and “brutal barre.” The gym’s neighbor Bank of America also opened up next door in its temporary home during construction of the 230 Broadway project. During our Lab5 visit, a confused customer walked in the door of the new gym and was quite confused by the tellers in spandex. Imagine how disappointed anybody who wanders in looking for cheesecake shop The Confectional will be when it opens next to Poppy later this spring.

(Images: CHS)

Lab5’s big grand opening celebration is slated for Saturday. The gym joins 12th Ave’s Barre3 as new Hill businesses dedicated to body improvement, health and, some would say, vanity. Just up Broadway, we reported on the recent opening of Blink, an eyelash salon. Here’s a clip from the media release announcing Lab5’s opening:

“The LAB5 elements will change your body,” says Jasmine Micaela Sharp, an experienced, certified trainer who created the LAB5 concept. “It challenges the body and mind by interconnecting power and purist Pilates, Barre, TRX and Yoga by way of cardio, strength training and flexibility, which ultimately results in an overall sense of balance.”

Few studios offer these types of classes in Seattle, and only LAB5FITNESS combines them all into an exclusive workout program for one LAB5 price.

LAB5 Owners’ Journey To Fitness

Sharp is designing workout programs for the LAB5FITNESS studio at the request of owners Alan and Bonnie Cashman. The Seattle couple was introduced to Sharp’s inspirational take on Pilates while spending winters in Palm Springs, CA., where Sharp was working with clients.

The Cashmans, who founded and sold two successful companies – The Balanced Program (BPI) and Administrative Systems (ASI) – are using LAB5FITNESS as a way to give back to the Pacific Northwest community.

“It was important to me to be involved in something that would provide a unique culture to the fitness arena, but also provide affordable prices for those serious about a quality overall workout,” Alan Cashman says. “We strive to be the gold standard in upscale fitness in Seattle and offer the utmost in customer care.”

You can learn more at http://lab5fitness.com/

The transformation of the old Jade Pagoda space that had stood empty for a few years has created a large main gym space visible from the sidewalk and passersby on Broadway. A year ago when the project was getting started, Craig Swanson of developers Redside Partners told us the remodel would undo much of the work done to the building in a 1967 overhaul with a goal of stripping the interior back to something “raw.” In the back of the updated space is a smaller, quieter studio — at least when nobody is grunting their way through barre exercises. The back studio, a Lab5 trainer said, will also be used for yoga and more meditative physical pursuits. It’s probably not far from where a few of you meditated on a heavy-pour gin and tonic back in the Jade Pagoda days.

We’d also like to report the plans for Jade Pagoda II. But it doesn’t look like it’s happening. There is a new restaurant coming to the space between the bank and the new gym, though. And, yes, it appears that the $300,000 construction to prepare the space is for a Chinese restaurant. We’ll tell you more about Bako, soon.