Milwaukee | Mandel Group, Inc. celebrated groundbreaking today for a unique development containing an 18,000 square foot indoor climbing gymnasium and 46 apartments overlooking the Milwaukee River. Adventure Rock, metro Milwaukee’s oldest climbing gymnasium operator, has signed a long-term lease for the rock wall and bouldering gym space, in a to-be-built mixed use development being constructed by Mandel Group on Milwaukee’s East Side. The gym is forecasted to open in early 2016. Mandel expects to deliver the apartments for occupancy in May of 2016.

“This is a really unusual development for us, one that we think will become an instant East Side landmark once it’s completed”, indicated Robert B. Monnat, Mandel Group’s chief operating officer. “The building’s a deceptively easy concept that we’ve poured ourselves into to make it something truly unique.”

Designed by the national award winning architectural firm Johnsen Schmaling Architects, the building will be sheathed in weathering steel and feature an undulating façade along North Avenue with embedded LED lights. Twin 45-foot tall window walls offer a dramatic view into the climbing gym environment from North Avenue. Site development around the building features native plantings and a rain garden that will function as a public park overlooking the river below.

Adventure Rock is led by Ken Chmielewski Eric Olson andcomplete the executive management team that will run the new facility along with Adventure Rock’s existing 9,000 square foot gym in Brookfield. “The sport is growing so quickly that we’re bursting at the seams in Brookfield”, commented Craig Burzynski. “We decided that the best location for our next metro Milwaukee facility would be on the East Side where we have thousands of members and guest visitors who would otherwise have to drive across town to use our Brookfield facility.”

Indoor climbing is one of the fastest growing urban sports in the country. Development in major metro areas added over 40 new climbing gymnasiums in US cities in 2014. Mens Journal magazine recently likened indoor gym climbing to cross-fit gyms that have proliferated in the past few years.

The development team led by Mandel Group includes Johnsen Schmaling Architects; structural engineer Pierce Engineering; civil engineer Pinnacle Engineering; GZA GeoEnvironmental; and construction manager Greenfire Management Services, LLC. Financing is being provided by Associated Bank. John Kuhn, Principal of Siegel Gallagher, represented Adventure Rock in lease negotiations.

About Mandel Group: Mandel Group, Inc. is a national award-winning builder and developer headquartered in Milwaukee. Founded in 1991, Mandel Group has transacted over $1 billion of residential and commercial real estate development, primarily in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. Many of its developments have contributed to the rebirth of downtown Milwaukee. Among its downtown developments are the North End neighborhood, which will soon be home to Milwaukee’s first Fresh Thyme Farmers Market; University Club Tower, the tallest residential building in Wisconsin; and East Pointe Commons, a nine-block reclamation of a former freeway corridor. Further information available at the company’s website: www.mandelgroup.com.

About Adventure Rock: Adventure Rock is Southeastern Wisconsin’s exclusive indoor rock climbing gymnasium. Founded in 1999, Adventure Rock provides interactive family oriented physical and strength-building activities. Adventure Rock offers rock climbing, bouldering, event space, fitness training, yoga classes, and space for parties and climbing competitions. Adventure Rock membership is distributed throughout metro Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin with a concentration of members residing on Milwaukee’s East Side. The current Adventure Rock location in Brookfield regularly attracts clientele from the entire Southeast Wisconsin area.

Renderings and Site Plans