High Point Climbing And Fitness, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company, is set to bring world-class climbing to Orlando, Florida with the addition of a new climbing and training facility just north of the city center. Dr. Phillips Charities, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in central Florida, is redeveloping The Packing District. It encompasses 202 acres and is a $700 million transformational mixed-use project near downtown Orlando. The overall development is becoming a highly desirable location to live, work and play, and High Point’s climbing gym will complement the master plan of the community.
“We are extremely excited to partner with Dr. Phillips Charities to develop our flagship gym within this historical property. Our growth and investment strategy has always been to find the best real estate opportunity in a market. We searched for 10 months in the greater Orlando area seeking the best location and didn’t want to compromise by selecting a site outside of our preferred downtown targeted market. We were psyched when “The Packing District” opportunity arose with Dr. Phillips Charities, and knew this development exceeded all our expectations,” says Johnny O’Brien, co-founder, and investor.
High Point Climbing And Fitness continually strives to push the boundaries in the industry and create top-tier climbing experiences in each market. High Point Chattanooga was named the ‘Coolest Climbing Gym in the Country” by Climbing magazine in 2015, and High Point Memphis held the USA Climbing National Team Trials competition in 2021 with ESPN covering the event. High Point Orlando will continue the tradition of generating national attention to a portfolio gym.
High Point plans to utilize its new location to create an amazing community for the sport. “I am excited to expand High Point in our Southeastern market. Having grown up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and been a rock climber 18 out of the last 33 years of my life, nothing gets me more excited than building another innovative project for the growing climbing community. We develop premier full-scale facilities and our new Orlando gym will be nothing short of that. We look forward to bringing world-class rock climbing to central Florida in 2024” states John Wiygul, co-founder and president.
In 2021, the sport of rock climbing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo, and climbing has exploded in popularity. High Point wants to offer climbing teams the very best in all of their markets and believe the new flagship gym will take competitive climbing to a whole new level in Orlando and allow us to host national climbing events in the new facility.
The full-service gym will include a 55-foot-tall rope climbing area with a competition speed wall and a large bouldering and training area. High Point has dedicated 4,000 square feet to a Kid Zone with specialty climbing elements designed to introduce children to the fun of climbing.
The building will also include a fitness area with weights, strength, and aerobic machines, a yoga studio, locker rooms with showers, and a pro shop to complement the experience.
High Point is also developing an adjacent 4,500 square feet to create a community space with a bistro serving bagels, coffee, wood-fired pizza, microbrewery beers, and wine. This is the company’s first venture into food and beverage service and the owners believe High Point Orlando is the perfect market to launch the concept.
High Point Orlando is slated to open by the spring of 2024. This will be the company’s 8th location, adding to their other facilities in Tennessee and Alabama.
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CBJ press releases are written by the sponsor and do not represent the views of the Climbing Business Journal editorial team.
