Kirkland-based X Gym is moving from downtown to a location near the South Kirkland Park and Ride, where the owner plans to offer free afternoon school programs for children living at the Imagine Housing across the street.

According to owner PJ Glassey, the gym is moving due to maintenance work in their current building located on Central Way, though he added that other issues influenced their decision as well, such as parking and traffic congestion.

“It’s just too hard for our clients now to find parking,” he said. “And then there is traffic. Clients have trouble getting to us who don’t live downtown. It’s really been worse in the last year, and now that they’re building so fast there, it’s exacerbated the problem. It’s not getting better downtown. I think it will continue to get worse. We love being in kirkland but we just need to be outside of that whole thing.”

Additionally, Glassey said the new location, which is located near the boundary with Bellevue, will allow him to draw more customers from south of Kirkland. Although they won’t have a lot more space than before, Glassey said it’s more open, which will make group training more feasible.

“Our new space is going to be perfect for that,” he said.

Glassey said they also plan to offer a new 45-minute after-school program for kids to work out and talk about living healthier lifestyles through things such as nutrition.

“We really want to service the immediate community first,” he said, “the schools across the street and then the surrounding neighborhoods.”

“Our emphasis is on health first,” he added. “That’s what we’re all about, coaching people about that.”

X Gym plans to open up at their new location at 10724 NE 38th Place in Kirkland by September.