Tricked-Out Climbing Gym Coming to DTLA's Arts District This Fall

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Come fall, LA climbing enthusiasts will have a massive new gym at their disposal. Touchstone Climbing, the group responsible for NorCal spots like Berkeley Ironworks and Diablo Rock Gym, is opening a bouldering facility in DTLA's Arts District. (For the layperson, "bouldering" means climbing without ropes.)

With the help of the real estate experts at Creative Space, who also assisted with the openings of neighborhood joints like Handsome Coffee Roasters and Poketo, the Touchstone group selected a building at Factory Place with ceilings that rise almost 30 feet—allowing for climbing walls of around 15 feet high.

Says Touchstone founder Mark Melvin, "We're opening a gym in San Francisco in the next month and it's called Dogpatch Boulders. It's kind of a prototype in the sense that it's got the most creative, I think, bouldering walls in the whole country. Our goal is to make LA even better."

The facility, which has yet to be named, will offer memberships as well as welcome drop ins of all talent levels. "There are climbers in LA that go to Joshua Tree or the quarry," said Melvin. "These people have been wanting a high-quality gym for a long time."
· Touchstone Climbing [Official Site]
· Art District Gains New Men's Store, Apolis [Racked]
· Oh God, is the Arts District Going to Be the Next Meatpacking? [Curbed]
· Gritty, Expensive Living Trend Continues: Factory Place Opening Soon [Curbed]
· ConstructionWatch: Downtown's Factory Place Lofts [Curbed]