Kickboxing studio blames landlord, ‘fetid odors’ for Uptown closure

The former 9Round location at 310 E. 17th Ave. in Denver. (Max Scheinblum/BusinessDen)

A gym can be a smelly place.

But an Uptown kickboxing studio that closed last fall says the “fetid odors” within it weren’t from sweat — but rather the fault of its landlord.

“Throughout the term of the Lease, landlord’s management of the premises has been calamitous and cost tenant significant business and good will,” 9Round wrote in a lawsuit filed last month against New York-based Maxx Properties. “The premises (have) been inundated with leaks, fetid odors, and heating and cooling issues.”

The gym chain, which has locations across North America and internationally, said Maxx’s actions amounted to a “constructive eviction,” in which a tenant is forced to leave a property because of a landlord’s behavior.

9Round asked the court to award it an unspecified amount of damages and rule that its lease at 310 E. 17th Ave. in Denver was terminated when the business moved out last November, and thus that 9Round no longer owes rent.

9Round, Maxx and their attorneys didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment from BusinessDen.

9Round, whose first location opened in South Carolina in 2008, signed a five-year lease for the space on the ground floor of an apartment building in 2016. It was renewed for another five years in October 2021, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit first mentions problems — including “near constant leaks” and “bouts of extreme heat and cold” — in 2023. The business says it ultimately sent its landlord around 1,500 emails and 200 photos and videos outlining problems — but claims that they weren’t corrected.

Some of those photos attached to the lawsuit purport to show fecal matter on exercise equipment.

The company says the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment visited the studio Sept. 9 last year and told Maxx the leaks, which were allegedly coming from a sewer line, violated the city’s health and safety regulations.

The department gave the landlord 30 days to patch up the pipes, but the lawsuit says that never happened.

Attorneys Alex Gunning and Ryan Sugden of Stinson are representing 9Round. Justin Cohen and Bridget DuPey of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck are representing the landlord.