Stone Climbing gym can start construction in South Jacksonville.
The city issued a permit Feb. 13 for Urban Partners Construction LLC of Jacksonville to build the 15,163-square-foot climbing facility at 10575 Deerwood Park Blvd. at a project cost of $2.8 million.
The site is next to the Southeast Regional Library, west of Gate Parkway. It is south of Butler Boulevard from St. Johns Town Center, and east of Interstate 295.
Urban Partners Construction also was the contractor for clearing the 1.38-acre site at a cost of $475,000. That permit was issued Sept. 17, 2024.
Stone Climbing’s CEO said previously he wants to break ground in October and start construction on the 15,163-square-foot Jacksonville climbing facility in December.
The facility will be the second for owners Eric Hires and John Thousand IV, who opened the first Stone Climbing gym in St. Augustine in 2021.
Hires said Feb. 14 they expect to open the new location Sept. 13.
They both live in St. Augustine.
With success in St. Johns County, “we realized that there is a need for a premiere, modern climbing facility in Jacksonville,” Hires, Stone Climbing CEO and co-founder, said Aug. 27 by email.
It’s also a competitive strategy to block national competition.
“In an effort to prevent a large, corporate climbing gym from out of state building one, we decided to move fast and keep climbing local in Northeast Florida,” Hires said.
Hires estimates the total Jacksonville project investment at $6.5 million.
Maverick Engineering of Saint Johns is the civil engineer. Hires said Connor Dowling, principal at Open City Architecture in St. Augustine, designed the building.
Hires is vice president and Thousand is president of Your Mom’s Holdings LLC, which they registered with the state in September 2023.
Your Mom’s Holdings LLC bought the site for $1.275 million Nov. 14, 2024, from the Skinner family.
Hires called the location “perfect” because it is accessible to the Beaches, the University of North Florida, northern St. Johns County and The Block Jax, which is a project by Kanine Social owner and founder Daniel Moffatt to build an outdoor food hall, live music venue and play park for children, next to a new Kanine Social dog care facility, at southwest I-295 and Butler Boulevard, also south of St. Johns Town Center.
In March 2024, Climbing Business Journal posted a news release that Stone Climbing announced it would build a facility in Jacksonville that would include 50-foot lead walls, more than 5,000 square feet of bouldering, a MoonBoard and Tension 2 climbing training boards, a fitness center, and a recovery zone with a sauna and cold baths.
The gym includes a weight room, cardio equipment and yoga.
“Keeping with the original location’s clean aesthetic, they will be incorporating artwork, natural light, and Vertical Solutions walls in the design,” the site said.
According to stoneclimbing.com, the facility’s site, Hires has been climbing for more than 20 years.
Hires has lived in St. Augustine since 2004. He is a graduate of Flagler College in St. Augustine.
Thousand, who goes by JT, grew up in Colorado and has climbed and explored the front range of the Rocky Mountains for most of his life, the site says.
In 2016, Thousand and his wife, Jenni, moved to St. Augustine from Denver to grow their family dental practice. Dental Specialists of North Florida has offices in St. Augustine and Palm Coast.
Hires and Thousand filed Saint Augustine Climbing Company LLC with the state Nov. 18, 2019.
The St. Augustine Stone Climbing is at 115 Strongway Court, east of Epic Village and Florida 207, south of Dobbs Road Cutoff.
