02-17-2015, 12:30 PM
(02-17-2015, 11:39 AM)plam Wrote: Right next to the climbing gym Grand River Rocks. There's this phenomenon where a bunch of Toronto climbing gyms have gotten squeezed out by condo development, because they tend to show up in initially former-industrial areas where there is a lot of gentrification potential. I have talked to the GRR owners about the potential for this to happen to them, but I fear it still will.
I have nothing against climbing gyms, but if you are renting space, there is always a chance that the landlord won't renew your lease -- or that the lease rates go up at renewal (enough to spur you to move out). But unlike, say, the loss of a heritage building, I don't view this as a disaster, it's just a dynamic of the ongoing improvements downtown. There will still be plenty of industrial space elsewhere in the city where people can build climbing gyms.
Of course, if GRR were to buy the building, they would be in control and they will essentially eliminate the risk of having to move.