Harpooners:
2021 has been one of the wildest years to date for Harpoon. While we inked our eighth year of operation, we’ve also hit some of the largest speed bumps to date. It’s been exciting, saddening, scary, and all the while, promising. As we close out on a wild year, we’re looking forward to an even better future.
So many of you had heard our landlord, Eldredge, refused to renew our lease come summer of 2022. We’ve been working quietly (although Jeff might not think I’ve been quiet) in the background to find the right space for us, both financially and physically. It hasn’t been easy. This market in our ever-so-popular area to live in, has incredibly high demands at higher prices. As for rental space, York doesn’t have industrial space available for us to occupy: the ceilings are too low, the space is too small, or the town limited our occupancy based on zoning. Our landlords have been firm about our end date and would not flex on our departure. So we went to work.
Today, we officially closed on 87 Cider Hill (in York) as the new location for CrossFit Harpoon. We have a long road ahead of us in regard to design, build out, and occupancy, but the future of Harpoon is now in our hands. My biggest ask for you all right now is to continue with us for the long haul as we head into these hard winter months.
We have a unique opportunity to make additions to our general offerings by moving into a new space. Our dream is to make fitness more accessible to the common public, and we believe we can do that with this space and location. We plan to get back to offering additional Bootcamps (see below on how we are going to integrate this come Jan. 3) and CrossFit classes during the most popular hours. Our air flow, spatial constraints and ventilation will improve drastically.
This is a cool, exciting opportunity to bring more fitness to the town of York. We know you have many options for fitness, at-home or otherwise, right now, but you all continue to show up day in and day out. We are supremely grateful for your continued support, and we hope to show you an amazing future.
The Town of York has been behind us since we originally brought the project to them three months ago, and that’s because of all the greatness that you all as members have helped create. They want to see us succeed, and we are more than happy to continue to support wellness in our community.
There have been many working hands behind the scenes helping to get this project done: Jeff Jellison has been my Bestie for the best part of nine months; he’s ready to kick me to the curb. Rick DiDinato helped me build financial sheet after financial sheet to present to the banks, and in many ways, has been an emotional support through this when things looked incredibly scary. Matt Howell represented us at closing and continues to support us to make sure our ducks are in a row. Nick LaFrance really helped bridge this deal for us by connecting us with the right people. Stephen has taken so many rollercoaster rides with me to support the negotiations and big picture planning; he’s ready to get to work in the teardown releasing some of his internal stressors. And lastly, our Leadership Staff has been wildly strong in keeping you all going while I dealt with the Listings, the Town, the Banks, and Sellers to get something like this done. I know I’ve bent many ears during this transaction, and I’m greatly appreciative of all your advice, guidance and direction.
This is an exciting time to be a part of Harpoon, and we plan to be here for many years to come!