Salt Lake City Grants Climbing Gym $2M Loan to Expand

A Salt Lake City climbing gym has a received a $2 million loan from the city as the facility looks to grow its flagship location. 

According to KSL.com, members of the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City board, who are also members of the Salt Lake City Council, voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a $2 million loan to help Front Climbing Club owner Rocky Ventures complete the first three phases of an ambitious four-part plan to expand the facility.

The project is expected to add about 30 to 40 new jobs and bring new life to a vacant building in the area. 

"We're becoming a climbing mecca of the United States because we have the Wasatch Mountains and all the climbing they do here. It seems like everyone wants to come to Utah who is a climber, and I think the Front is showing that — they're expanding," Salt Lake City Councilman Dan Dugan, who also serves as the board's vice chairman, told KSL.com. "I'm excited for it."

The Front's flagship location underwent a major addition in 2016, and the owners have since opened other locations in Ogden and Millcreek. 

Rocky Ventures recently acquired two buildings and it's working to connect the warehouse with two other buildings it already owns and operates. The first three phases of the plan will allow for new climbing walls, climbing training areas, fitness studios, a courtyard as well as bathrooms, showers and infrastructure improvements.

All three phases are on pace to be completed by May 2024, adding about 70,000 square feet of new gym space.

Rocky Ventures reached out to the city after multiple banks turned down their request for a loan. 

"Banks are tightening their credit; they're not looking to lend as much, especially opportunistic investments like climbing gyms," he said. "To a bank, it's an unknown business model so they're a little more skittish to lend on a climbing gym."

Rocky Ventures says it will cover about $3 million for the rest of the $5 million plan. The three-year loan comes with an estimated 5.3 percent interest rate, with a 20-year amortization period.

"Our expansion project will revitalize, preserve, and repurpose previously used and unused (warehouses) along 400 West, integrating them with our existing facility, resulting in a positive contribution to the surrounding neighborhood," the company wrote in its application.

Officials add that they anticipate the entire project will increase revenue by $25 million in the five years after it is completed.