Dakine finds new home in Hood River

Earlier this week Dakine finalized a deal to move to 603 Portway Ave. A 45,000-square-foot building is currently under construction on the site and Dakine will take up approximately 25,000 square feet of the space.

“Dakine is built on a deep dedication to quality and innovation across a unique multi-sport platform. Hood River is the center of action sports in Oregon, with incredible proximity to world-class windsurfing, kiteboarding, snowboarding, skiing and mountain biking.

“Having our headquarters here lets us maintain our competitive edge by giving the product development team a demanding all-terrain environment for developing and testing products,” said Francois Carrete, president of Dakine, in a press release announcing the move.

“We’re very appreciative of the team effort made to help us find our next home in Hood River, and we are looking forward to the move.”

Dakine is expected to move into the building, which is being constructed by Key Development, in the spring.

“We are happy to have worked with Dakine and Parkside Lands LLC to find the perfect new space in Hood River for their expanding headquarters,” said Jeff Pickhardt of Key Development in a statement.

“Dakine is an iconic Hood River company that has been a great local economic engine for 25 years, and we’re thrilled that they are the newest residents of the growing Port of Hood River Waterfront Business Park.”

The move will allow Full Sail Brewing to occupy the entire Columbia Building. Full Sail had been planning an expansion in the building pending Dakine’s move to the Expo Center, but had to wait for Dakine’s situation to resolve after the Expo Center deal fell apart.

Port Director Michael McElwee said he was glad a resolution could be found to satisfy everyone and to bring a high profile tenant to the port’s new business park.

“There was a better opportunity to keep Dakine in Hood River and relocate them to the waterfront in a new building in a way that meets their needs and establishes them in HR for the long term,” McElwee said.

“We had a multi-year discussion with Dakine with the intent of putting them in a repurposed Expo Center but the opportunity to put them in a new building on the waterfront was a better alternative.”