Kink Attempting To Convert Part Of Its Armory To Offices

Diversification is the key to survival in the 21st Century, and nobody knows this better than Kink.com. They're currently in the process of attempting to convert 120,000 square feet of their San Francisco Armory into office space which, considering their primo location in the Mission neighborhood, will more than likely be highly sought after. 

According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal (link below), tech companies are the most likely to jump at the chance to set up shop in Armory due to their love of "old and historic buildings."

Peter Acworth, the founder and CEO of Kink.com, said "a local newspaper group" recently approached the company about renting out one of the 25,000-square-foot floors to use as offices. "But we're not permitted as an office space yet. I can rent to a (production, distribution and repair) user, rent them a floor, but cannot rent to someone like Facebook or something," he said.

While this all may sound a little strange, it's important to remember how much work Kink has put into the building, making it a desirable place to be once more.

When Kink.com bought the building for $14.5 million in 2006, it rescued the structure from years of neglect and fights over its usage and grabbed itself a huge space for film production. The building, constructed in 1914, housed the National Guard for decades.

The basement rooms that the National Guard once used for shooting ranges and to house horses, weapons and ammunition are now used for scenes in Kink.com's 29 BDSM-focused websites. Upper floors are used to edit film, and the top floor is home to a room for live-streamed group sex that leads out to a long hallway with paintings depicting Kink.com scenes.

They're also going to continue renovations provided they get the go-ahead from the city.

Kink.com wrote in its office application that it expects renovations to cost about $9.3 million, though the physical aspects of the building would stay the same. It could quickly recoup that cost in a city where a company would likely have pay $5 million to $8 million a year to take all the new office space in the Armory, judging by citywide rent averages.

"What we're looking for is to diversify. All my eggs are in the one basket of making movies," Acworth said.

Via Silicon Valley Business Journal