Vital Climbing Gym taking an entire warehouse in Brooklyn

California fitness chain opening first East Coast location, on Williamsburg-Greenpoint border

Left to right: Woman climbing in Vital Climbing Gym, Cayuga’s Jacob Sacks, and 1 Nassau Avenue (Credit: Vital Climbing Gym, Ariel Property Advisors, and Google Maps)
Left to right: Woman climbing in Vital Climbing Gym, Cayuga’s Jacob Sacks, and 1 Nassau Avenue (Credit: Vital Climbing Gym, Ariel Property Advisors, and Google Maps)

Vital Climbing Gym, a California fitness chain, is carabining onto the East Coast with a deal for an entire Brooklyn warehouse.

The San Diego-based company signed a 15-year triple-net lease for a 31,000-square-foot industrial property at Cayuga Capital Management’s 1 Nassau Avenue, located at the Williamsburg-Greenpoint border, the firm told The Real Deal.

Vital plans to build out the total space to as much as 46,000 square feet, utilizing the rooftop and ground-floor outdoor space. The 24-hour, full-service gym is expected to open by summer 2019. The asking rent was $110 per square foot.

The one-story property was built in the 1910s and was formerly home to metal manufacturer Nash Metalware Company. It has several alternate addresses: 167-223 North 14th Street, 72-86 North 15th Street, and 94-116 Banker Street.

“The building is spectacularly underutilized,” said Vital co-founder David Sacher. “It’s really run down and we can do something cool with it.”

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The deal marks Vital’s first location outside of California and Washington state. There are outposts in Oceanside, Murrieta and Carlsbad in California and Bellingham, Washington.

CBRE’s Michael Kadosh, Lon Rubackin and Jesse Wolff represented Vital in the lease deal. EXR’s Brad Krosser, Nick Dries and Keat Chew and Harrison Gilbard-Balisky, formerly of EXR, represented Cayuga Capital.

EXR co-founder Mario Faggiano said his brokerage “naturally targeted a fitness tenant. There’s a strong health interest in that area, at the top corner of McCarren Park not far from the tennis courts.”

The gym will be located slightly north of another fitness facility, Brooklyn Athletic Club, which is a tenant at 10 Berry Street, co-owned by Cayuga Capital. The developer filed plans last year for a redevelopment of that property.