As we first reported back in 2014, plans to convert Kink.com’s landmark Armory building at Mission and 14th Streets from fetish porn studio that you’re able to see in the intros of many of their productions across many adult sites like hdtubemovies xxx, to “traditional office use,” with the 39,000 square foot Drill Court proposed for “spectator sports, arts or nighttime entertainment” use, were quietly in the works.
And those plans are now closer to reality, with the required paperwork for the Drill Court conversion having formally been filed and the proposed conversion of roughly 120,000 square feet of Kink.com’s studio space into traditional office use having just been granted an exception from having to complete a lengthy environmental review.
Of course, the closure of the porn studio will come as a disappointment to many fans of their content, but the internet has many sites online that provide adult videos such as up and coming VR porn – click here for VR porn or instead if you’re an avid fan of the emerging VR porn fad, you could look at VR Porn vrcams.io, where they offer virtual reality live cam models, the first of its kind.
If approved, 41,000 square feet of Kink.com’s studio space would remain zoned for Production, Distribution, and Repair (PDR) versus office use, but would likely not be employed for the production of porn, or at least not for long. Some content on websites similar to Tubev must have been shot there.
And in terms of the plans for the Drill Court, if the requested entertainment permit is approved, the Armory is expected to host “as many as three distinct events a week, or up to 10 distinct events a month,” including multi-day and non-arts events (e.g., corporate functions, private parties, flea markets, etc.).
How would this fit with Prop. M? 120K means it can’t slip under the set aside for smaller projects? I doubt this is a high priority project to others wanting to get the M allocation. Maybe this is exempt somehow?
The Drill Court – I see what you did there.
On the plan itself, this seems quite sensible.
The blanding of San Francisco continues…
What’s bland about a new event space? You just like the idea of being “edgy”.
the event space is not new – kink built it as a tenant-improvement and have been operating it since. what’s bland is more office space – and you can’t argue that one!
Thank you.
Kink didn’t build anything as a tenant improvement, they aren’t a tenant. They own the building.
Every city/town has and needs office space, and SF really needs office space.
Your comment is sort of like saying having roads or sidewalks make a city “bland.” The building was originally used as an armory and when that purpose became obsolete it went through various other iterations until it became a porn studio. Now, most porn is made around LA, though there has been a steady flow of business to Nevada and other more “business-friendly” states for several years. Moreover, porn studios, in-and-of-themselves are pretty boring, they are businesses, just like any business. You do not know what is going on from the outside (and most of what happens on the inside is actually boring office and production stuff), so converting the building to “regular” office use will have zero impact on the neighborhood. In fact, if you want to impress your edgy friends, you can lie and claim porn is still being made there because no one would ever know the difference.
Yes, a lot of the porn industry has moved to Nevada since the condom laws. As a former LV condo dweller, I can tell you my old building is seeing some pretty interesting action. Some rides in the elevator are awkwardly silent. Imagine yourself with your Trader Joe’s bags and a Triple D bombshell in skimpy attire enters the elevator. It happened almost every day.
You guys seem to know an awful lot about this industry…
How am I gonna get out of this one… Well, for the first 3 months in the condo tower I just couldn’t figure the statistical unlikeliness of having either Triple Ds or tattooed/pimp types in 1 out of 3 elevator rides. I asked the bell hops and valets and couldn’t get anything out of them. Then I saw they were all coming by cab or Uber. Since this was happening on weekdays, it was pretty much a local thing. Then I started asking Cabbies and Uber drivers, and they all confirmed the thing.
Yeah, let’s keep San Francisco ~quirky~ by building offices in Oakland, that’ll work.
Works for me.
I don’t object to its current use in any way, but how does it benefit the neighborhood ambiance or street life? It’s not like their “performances” are open to the public. Or if they are, I have seriously wasted the last 6 years not knowing about it. I’m sure the porn will be just as good if it’s produced in a warehouse in Emeryville or in Van Nuys instead.
Actually, plenty of their performances are open to the (adult) public. Sorry you missed out. But seriously, they contributed significantly to neighborhood ambiance by cleaning up and repairing the Armory, lighting the exterior, even doing nice touches like flying flags from the turrets. And they regularly opened the Drill Court to events…I saw “the Black Watch” there (I think sponsored by ACT?) and it was fantastic…also went to a couple of craft fair kinda things. Kink.com, regardless of what you think of their “craft” has been a magnificent and thoughtful owner of the space.
Yes, it is great they took care of the building, and no one is knocking their product (though, it certainly is not to everyone’s preference). But, let’s call it like it is, they are just a boring business, like any other business. Most of what they do involves typical, routine, day-to-day office and production stuff with a little sex thrown in. People somehow think just the business involves making porn, it makes the building “edgy,” but really they are just a business that doesn’t impact the neighborhood any differently than other business.
They have made their many millions and they want to move on. They own the building, and it is their choice to convert it to more “traditional” office space, which really will not result in much of an impact to the neighborhood one way or the other.
Unlike the nightmare ‘Navigation Center’ on the next block …
Having been an immediate neighbor for 16 years, I cannot think of any negative effects from Kink.com’s occupancy of the Armory or its opening of The Armory Club (bar) across the street.
The occasional very large events in the drill court (ie New Years, Pride) appear to be a model of excellent event management and to the disappointment of my horny neighbor, porn production has been 100% invisible.
Opponents of the plans should be forced to publicly defend 14th & Mission a few years back when the crummy-ass ARCO station was the BEST thing going on! Kudos to Peter Ackworth who overcame an unbelievable list of obstacles and hostile obstructors to bring the old beast back to life. He has lived up to his promises.
One shortcoming of the Armory’s transformation to date worth noting is the lack of permanent facade lighting. Anyone who has seen one of the temporary facade lighting installations Kink.com has done can testify to the “Wow!” factor one experiences seeing the Armory lit up.
Good lighting doesn’t come cheap, but I understand permit issues – not cost – has completely stymied Mr. Ackworth’s desire to install facade lighting. C’mon people …
Has it really been 16 years ago that they took over?
No. More like 6-8.
I think the point is that he’s lived near to the Armory long enough to know the area both before and after. Kink.com bought the Armory for $14.5 million in late 2006. I’ve attended numerous events there and am sad to see them basically forced out of California :(.
I’m a big fan of repurposed old buildings. The nicest conversions often reflect on their past with a photographic display of the building’s history. Hopefully the Armory as office will be reborn with some great photos portraying the military obedience and enthusiastic “can do” attitude displayed by the uniformed occupants.
But seriously I’d find this a rather dismal place to either live or work. The window/wall area ratio is too low and the interior will be dim an dreary despite the best efforts of the developers. After all this building was designed to withstand a minor siege.
UPDATE: Developer Pays $65 Million for the Armory in San Francisco