The old San Francisco Armory, which has sat empty for more than three decades in city's Mission district, has found a new use, but local residents aren't exactly excited about this latest chapter of the neighborhood's gentrification.
"The armory, built in 1912, served as a military induction and training center during the two world wars. It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places but has been empty since 1970. In recent years, plans to build apartments, offices and an Internet switching facility never got off the ground. ...[Now,] the Moorish-style brick building was recently purchased for $14.5 million by Kink, a Web-based pornography distributor that outgrew its South of Market dungeon."
The new owners have tried to assure residents that they will be good neighbors, responding to concerns from residents about the incompatibility of their business in the neighborhood.
Yet, some residents have made light of the situation, with one local writing a letter to the editor mocking the neighborhood's transformation to a successful vice district without a need for an economic development strategy.
