Sonoma’s fitness landscape is poised to change as San Francisco-based MX3 Fitness — promising a fresh, community-centered start — prepares to open its fifth location in the space formerly occupied by Sonoma Fit along Highway 12 in Boyes Hot Springs.
The soon-to-be revamped 15,000-square-foot facility at 19310 Sonoma Highway is targeting an opening in early June, quickly filling a void left by the closure of Sonoma Fit.
San Francisco-based fitness group MX3 Fitness co-owners Dave Karraker, left, and Glenn Shope will open their 6th and largest location at the old Sonoma Fit space on Sonoma Highway Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
MX3 co-owner Dave Karraker, a homeowner in El Verano since 2007, and founder Glenn Shope, see this as an opportunity to restore trust and create a reliable local asset.
“We know that we have to earn the respect and trust of the community,” Karraker said, noting the constant flow of people stopping by the gym to offer feedback during the early renovation phase.
“We want to make it kind of a community gathering center for folks that are fitness minded,” Karraker added.
The space will offer a new hybrid-model focused on comfort and accessibility.
According to its owners, MX3 Fitness is introducing a model that blends the open-gym format with a concept born out of pandemic necessity that proved wildly popular — reservation-based personal fitness stations, where members can work out separate from the shared, open gym space.
The personal fitness stations are described as 150-square-foot “gyms within a gym,” that members can reserve for an hour, equipped with a squat rack, functional cable machine and free weights, ensuring a completely private workout without waiting for or sharing equipment.
MX3 will also retain the traditional open gym layout and offer classes. The base membership price will start at $99 a month, lower than the former gym’s starting price of $110 to $119. MX3 is waiving the $75 initiation fee for anyone who signs up before the opening.
Karraker and Shope said they value accessibility and fostering a welcoming, inclusive environment.
The future group fitness room for the new MX3 Fitness gym at the old Sonoma Fit space on Sonoma Highway Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)
To bring that vision to life, the owners are making several design changes. Renovations include brightening up the facility, reorganizing the layout to separate weight machines for casual users from the heavy lifting areas, converting a former spin room into a dedicated, quiet space for stretching, low-impact movement and meditation, and relocating most cardio equipment to the second floor.
Fostering a safe, fun, and community-serving environment is a big part of the owners’ mission and they emphasized the importance of listening to and connecting with the community.
“I love being a part of what makes a neighborhood an awesome place to live,” Shope said.
In a move intended to stabilize the local fitness employment sector, MX3 is seeking employees, including those who formerly worked at Sonoma Fit — both trainers and class instructors.
“We hear that people really love their trainers and their class instructors here,” Karraker said, encouraging former staff to get in touch. The owners said the company employs all of its personal trainers and offers them competitive pay, health care and a 401K.
Karraker and Shope said they hope to extend MX3’s reputation as a highly accessible, dog-friendly space, depending on local policies and rules around dog-friendly spaces. The company was previously voted “most dog friendly gym in San Francisco” by the ASPCA, utilizing the personal fitness stations as dedicated areas where members can bring their dogs along.
MX3 Fitness — which was highlighted during the pandemic for working with the city of San Francisco to safely reopen gyms — is committed to reflecting its values of “friendship and partnership” in Sonoma.
Those interested in membership or employment can email sonoma@mx3fitness.com.
