LIC to see two massive rock-climbing facilities

Updated at 5:07 with comment from Cliffs owner Mike Wolfert: Long Island City is getting two new indoor gyms that will have tens of thousands of feet for climbers, according to the New York Daily News. Together, the huge gyms could turn LIC into a North American scaling mecca.

The Cliffs plans to open a 20,000-square-foot facility in May near the Court Square subway station — an area already experiencing a residential building boom — in a building with walls up to 60-feet high. Brooklyn Boulders is now in a former Daily News garage in Gowanus but is considering a move to the Queens neighborhood. 

“It just increases the [area’s] cool factor,” said Dan Miner, senior vice president of the development group Long Island City Partnership. “It’s going to bring people in without a doubt.”

Besides climbing, the Cliffs will feature cardio and strength training equipment, a party room and a retail store.

“Long Island City is rapidly becoming a leading residential destination for New Yorkers, the Cliffs hope to create a recreational / fitness destination there as well, ”   Cliffs owner, Mike Wolfert told The Real Deal. “With Long Isand City’s proximity to mid-town and accessibility via public transit as well as the fantastic increase in the standard of living makes it the ideal location for the Cliffs to build one of North America’s premiere indoor rock climbing destinations.”

The deal for the LIC facility was handled by Robert Conz, director of commercial retail and office leasing at Metropolitan Property Group. [NYDN] —Christopher Cameron