Vashon Island’s largest building, the K2 Factory, sold in July 2018 to Seattle based company, Sound Properties, LLC, after sitting vacant for over a decade. Mike Kirkland, CEO of MK Property Services, LLC, brokered the deal, and is now working with Sound Properties to renovate and bring relevancy back to this building that has played an economically significant role in Vashon Island.
What started as the Winter’s Florist building became the headquarters of Kirschner Manufacturing Co. in 1956, when the Kirschners needed space to expand their business of making splints and animal cages. Fast forward to 1961, when Bill Kirschner, an avid skier, decided to take his knowledge of molding plastics and applied it to a different product: fiberglass skis. They went into production under the name K2 in 1964 and quickly became a major presence in the ski industry by the late 1960s.
Due to the rapid growth of the brand, the manufacturing plant was expanded into an 175,000 square foot facility in the early 1970s. Over the next 30+ years, K2 held its headquarters at the facility, employing up to 750 employees and becoming a frontrunner in American ski production. In 1999 however, K2 began shifting production to China, and in 2006 they moved their corporate headquarters to Seattle, leaving the K2 Factory after 50 years of occupying the property.
Since the vacancy, several entrepreneurs have set their sights on renovating the building into everything from a cannabis manufacturing plant to a health and wellness facility, but due to some restrictions, the deals fell through. Brad Middling of family owned Sound Properties, LLC is a Vashon Island native and is looking forward to bringing new life back to the K2 Factory. Middling and Kirkland are working together to find a use that will benefit the community, and will be hosting a public open house on September 11th to discuss possible uses for the site.
Anyone interested in leasing at the facility or in attending the upcoming meeting may contact MK Property Services, LLC at 425-888-2993.
Photo by Steve Tosterud at sumptuousart.com