From: Press Release
Touchstone Climbing has secured a location for a state of the art indoor climbing gym in Culver City. Touchstone’s first Southern California location, LA Boulders, opened in the Arts District of Los Angeles in late 2013. Their Culver City climbing gym is one of several projects currently underway in the greater Los Angeles area.
The Culver City location will bring a world class Touchstone Climbing gym to the West Side. “LA Boulders has changed the climbing gym market in Los Angeles,” said Sr. Manager Jeffery Bowling. “This new gym allows us to serve the climbing communities of Culver City, Santa Monica, and beyond. We’re very excited about the location of the gym and thrilled by the warm welcome we have received from the L.A. climbing community.”
The Culver City gym has a 25,000 sq ft footprint, making it one of the largest indoor climbing gyms in the country. “We are still in the planning stages of the project, but we know we are building a very large bouldering gym. We are still exploring the idea of raising the roof to add a rope climbing area,” said Touchstone Climbing CEO Mark Melvin.
Culver City will be a full service gym, with designated areas for programs rooms, fitness equipment, and a training area. “Offering premier climbing, fitness, and classes like yoga and kickboxing has become synonymous with the Touchstone Climbing brand,” said Director of Marketing Lauryn Claassen. “Bringing a full service gym to Culver City will be huge for both the climbing and fitness communities.”
Touchstone is working with Walltopia, a leading climbing wall manufacturer, to build the gym. This is the the 5th project the two companies have designed and built together. “Our partnership with Walltopia becomes stronger with each gym,” said Bowling, who visited Walltopia headquarters in Bulgaria in June. “We are ready to bring something truly innovative to the greater Los Angeles area.”
“We are cautiously confident that this project can be completed within the first half of 2015,” said Melvin.
The Culver City gym will be the Touchstone’s 11th location in California. They announced a Pasadena location in March, which is still in the planning phase. “We are continuing to work with the city and will be announcing our progress in the coming months,” said Melvin. “These three locations give us a good start on serving the entire L.A. basin climbing community. Multiple locations in close proximity is one of the things that separates Touchstone from its competitors. When completed, one Touchstone membership will provide access to over 50,000 sq. ft. of climbing within a 20 minute drive.”
Creative Space, an integrated Real Estate Company, has helped Touchstone Climbing find all three locations. “Finding suitable locations for a climbing gym and getting the facilities approved and open for business is very difficult and requires a more integrated approach than the marketplace currently offers,” said Tyler Stonebreaker, founder and CEO, Creative Space (www.creativespace.us). “We had to find a space with a certain clear height for the climbing terrain along with proper zoning, parking and a location in a desirable neighborhood, not to mention do it multiple times to ensure Touchstone’s members are able to access one of their climbing facilities throughout the greater Los Angeles region.”
Touchstone Climbing is the largest Indoor Climbing Gym company in the world. They have been leading the industry since the opening of Mission Cliffs in San Francisco in 1995.
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