Rock-climbing gym proposed for Apopka
A newly formed business venture is working to bring Apopka what the owner bills as the largest indoor rock-climbing gym in Florida.
Stephen Carnes, a Winter Park resident and owner of Be Climbing Inc., has filed plans with the St. Johns River Water Management District for a 30,000-squarefoot facility rising 75 feet at the corner of S.R. 414 and S.R. 435, just north of Keene Road.
Carnes purchased the seven-acre parcel in February of 2022 for $725,000, according to property records.
“I’ve been contemplating this since 2018,” Carnes told GrowthSpotter. “Right here in the Central Florida area, we just lack a large-sized gym. For being flat and being Florida, we’ve always had a developed rock-climbing community here in Orlando. It’s a sport that’s liked by all ages.”
At 30,000 square feet, the rock climbing gym would be among the largest in the nation. Pacific Pipe climbing gym in Oakland, California, is currently the biggest in the U.S at 46,000 square feet.
“We will be much larger than anything presently in Florida,” Carnes said.
Carnes was introduced to rock climbing by his teenage son and daughter. Nikolaus, 17, and Sophia, 15, fell in love with the sport nearly a decade ago while at Camp Wewa in Apopka.
They then convinced their dad to take them to a nearby gym.
“They were having a good time climbing, and I thought, ‘rather than just sit here, I might as well get a pair of rental shoes and try to climb myself.’ I found it fun,” he said.
And it’s an activity anyone can do, he added. “It tends to be a sport where you don’t have to be the biggest and baddest athlete.”
Carnes’ son and daughter eventually became members of a rock climbing team participating in competitions. Carnes later installed a rock climbing wall inside his home, which drew quite a crowd when other spots temporarily shuttered during the pandemic.
He’s hopeful construction is complete on the first Be Climbing gym in Apopka by early 2024. Then, Carnes said he is planning to open other locations.
Mahogany Pointe project on track
Link Logistics, a logistics real estate company established by one of the world’s largest publicly traded private equity firms, Blackstone, has filed development plans for the final phase of its 2.8 million-squarefoot business park north of the airport while deep in construction of Phase 1.
Senior Vice President Eric Penaranda told GrowthSpotter that Link would be ready to deliver the first two spec warehouses at Mahogany Pointe later this year.
Each is about 150,000 square feet with a rear-load design with 38 dock doors and a clear height of 36 feet.
The 322-acre development site, bordered by Hoffner Avenue, S. Conway Road and Judge Road/Lee Vista Boulevard, is part of the LeeVista Center business park tied to the family of the late dairy mogul T.G. Lee.
“We’re extremely excited about this project,” Penaranda said. “It is an A-plus location, well located by the airport.”
Mahogany Pointe is being co-developed by Scannell Properties, while CBRE’s David Murphy and Monica Wonus will lead up the leasing effort. The project is split into three phases; Links filed plans a year ago for Phase 2, which is a 322,560-square-foot cross-dock warehouse labeled Building 700 on the master plan.
Penaranda declined to specify the anticipated buildout date for the entire project, but he said the brokers are already fielding calls for the Phase 1 buildings, even though Orlando hasn’t traditionally been a “pre-lease” market.