In what could be a cautionary tale for the climbing gym industry, it was recently announced that Bouldering Project (BP) has signed a lease to take over the space of the current Crux Climbing South Austin (Crux) location in Austin, Texas, according to multiple sources. The news hit the Austin climbing community this week, beginning Tuesday with an email to BP members celebrating the gym chain’s new project, followed closely by an Instagram post from Crux lamenting the news. Crux founder and owner Kevin Goradia told CBJ he had been unaware that BP would be moving into the space and first learned of the move directly from a BP representative about five minutes before BP’s member email was sent. Over the ensuing hours and days, both BP and Crux addressed the situation through Instagram posts. How did this situation happen? Certain aspects of the story are clear; however, there are also some conflicting claims. What is at the core of the story, though, is the fact that Crux’s lease, which Goradia confirms began in 2016, was not renewed and the landlord, 3423 Holdings LLC (LLC), re-leased the property to BP.

According to the Austin Monitor, in 2022, Crux notified the Austin Zoning and Platting Commission that the Crux team was planning to relocate the South Austin gym, pending rezoning of the proposed new location. Per Goradia, Crux’s current lease is in a two-year extension through January 31, 2025, after which it would automatically renew for successive one-year periods unless it was terminated by either party. Goradia told CBJ he intended to execute the automatic renewals to keep the South Austin gym open until the relocation could be completed. Here is where the stories diverge: According to LLC, “Crux declined the opportunity to enter into a longer term commitment, stating that it wanted flexibility due to its plans to construct a replacement facility.” Only after Crux declined the longer-term lease was the termination option exercised, LLC told CBJ. However, in a conversation with CBJ, Goradia denied that a long-term lease was the nature of that negotiation between Crux and LCC, and Goradia said that LLC exploited an obscure loophole in the terms which allowed LLC to terminate the lease. “We have pursued lease renewal this entire time and were surprisingly served the termination notice on February 1st,” Goradia told CBJ. He explained that Crux did not address the situation publicly or with staff in the hopes that negotiations could be salvaged, as prior experience with the landlord suggested was possible. Instead, LLC told CBJ that LLC had approached BP in September 2023 about the opportunity for a long-term lease at the location, and LLC added that BP was the only climbing gym operator LLC approached. The decision to approach BP had some history to it: The investors behind LLC also were landlords for BP’s Springdale location through 979 Springdale Road, LP, and have worked closely with BP since 2015, based on CBJ’s research. LLC informed CBJ that neither landlord, nor any of their affiliates, has a financial stake in BP beyond the tenant relationship. In a conversation with CBJ, BP representatives explained how the opportunity to move into the space had felt like a win-win for both their business and the local community, who they believed were facing the loss of this climbing gym when Crux would be exiting the space. “It’s a bit disheartening to read the extent of the outrage,” Kyle Wiggins, BP Austin Market Director, told CBJ, adding, “We’ve been in Austin for over a decade.”

When asked, Wiggins told CBJ that in the coming months BP intends to open applications for employment at the former Crux location and “if former Crux employees are the right fit and want to work for BP, we would be psyched to have them join us.” At the same time, Goradia assured CBJ there would be opportunities for current Crux staff to work at Crux’s other locations, including the recently opened Pflugerfille gym or the relocated South Austin gym (slated to open in late 2025). Panning out from the controversy in Austin this week, this episode should serve as a caution to climbing gym operators who lease their space. Difficulties with lease renewals are a common reason why climbing gyms close their doors. However, typically when a closure happens, the gym is demolished or deconstructed. Occasionally, a landlord in possession of a fully equipped gym may look for a new tenant to operate the space. Very often, doing so is a tenuous affair, since the economic reasons the previous gym operator did not renew the lease are the same headwinds facing another operator. But it’s another thing altogether if climbing gym developers begin to see growth opportunities through interfering with existing lease negotiations between landlords and gym operators who intend to continue operations. To be clear, despite allegations, that situation does not appear to be the case here in Austin. However, this moment opens the door to imagine that kind of thing happening somewhere in the future. It’s a reminder of the vulnerabilities that come with leasing gym spaces, as well as the importance of communication between gyms and the communities they serve.