L+M Development Partners, Prudential Financial and the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group (UIG) announced that Method Climbing will open early next year in Walker House in Newark, NJ.
Walker House is a recently opened mixed-use development in the restored NJ Bell building at 540 Broad Street in Downtown Newark.
Method Climbing will be the first climbing wall facility in Newark and, at 22,000 s/f, will be one of the largest of its kind in state.
Jake Frantzman of RIPCO Real Estate represented the tenant.
Method Climbing will serve as a fitness facility with a community focus, offering not just a premiere climbing experience, but also networking and socializing opportunities. The gym will contain 12,000 s/f of climbing terrain, including nearly 8,000 s/f of bouldering terrain with 15-foot high walls and more than 4,000 s/f of roping terrain with 27-foot-high walls.
Method Climbing will be located on the ground floor of Walker House, the landmarked Art Deco masterpiece that formerly housed NJ Bell in Downtown Newark. Designed by Ralph Thomas Walker in the 1920s, the 21-story building features 264 units of mixed-income housing, and will also contain a brewery and UPS Store on its ground floor.
In April, Walker House also welcomed Per Scholas, the tech training non-profit, to its office space.
L+M, Prudential and Goldman Sachs UIG launched leasing for Walker House’s 211 luxury residences last month,.
Walker House is L+M, Prudential and Goldman Sachs UIG’s latest Downtown Newark investment in partnership with Citi Community Capital. In 2017, the partnership re-opened the historic Hahne & Co. building blocks away at 609 Broad Street.
The former department store, which sat abandoned for 30 years, was transformed into a mixed-use complex featuring residences, an arts and cultural center operated by Rutgers University-Newark, Newark’s first Whole Foods Market and a Marcus Samuelsson restaurant, Marcus B&P.
