Costco To Build 800-Unit Apartment Complex In South Los Angeles

Costco is building a ‘mixed use’ 800-unit apartment complex in south Los Angeles – with 184 units designated as affordable housing, which some have speculated will allow them to fast-track the construction of an actual Costco Big Box store by taking advantage of a state law which removes significant red tape from such projects, the NY Post reports.

The project, in partnership with  Baldwin Village by developers Thrive Living and architects AO, is still in the permitting stage so no word on when ground will be broken.

“The planning and land use system in California and in LA is a Rube Goldberg machine,” housing activist Joe Cohen told SFGATE, “and this project is seeing that machine laid bare.”

The mixed-use complex would rise on a vacant, five-acre lot that was previously home to a hospital. 

The plans include a gym, multi-purpose spaces, gardens, a rooftop pool, landscaping and a large parking lot, according to the press release. -NY Post

According to Cohen – who calls it Costco Prison, the complex is “a bunch of small units along these long hallways, with a massive recreation center as an amenity space,” adding “From a plain view, it looks like an old school prison design,” due to its use of pre-manufactured apartment modules that can he brought to the site by truck.

The reason for the ‘prison’ look, Cohen says, is that “Costco was facing years of public hearings, millions of dollars of consultant fees, and an uncertain outcome,” in order to gain approval.

“However, mixed-use housing projects that meet certain criteria are automatically exempt from discretionary reviews by state law (AB 2011),” he continues.

“So Costco did what any good Scooby-Doo villain would do. They put on a mask that says “I’m an apartment building, not a big-box store.”“

To get the full protection of state housing laws (HAA), mixed-use buildings must be at least 2/3 residential. The Costco itself is 185,000 square feet. So they needed at least 370,000 sq ft of residential.

(They ended up with 471,000 sq ft of residential plus an additional 56,000 sq ft of amenity space)

But for a project that big, to qualify for AB 2011, you need to not only pay prevailing wages, but use “skilled and trained” (aka union) labor.

“luckily”, union labor requirements only apply to on-site construction. So to lower the amount of on-site labor needed, Costco turned to pre-fab building modules.

Pre-fab modules need to fit on trucks, which results in mostly small shotgun-style one-bedroom units.

And that’s how you end up with a Costco housing project that resembles a prison! -Joe Cohen

The Costco store itself will be close to mass transit, and will include a multi-floor, underground garage, pharmacy, and optical center according to SFGATE.

“Mayor Bass has declared a housing emergency in Los Angeles, and we’re answering the call,” Jordan Brill of Thrive Living in a statement included in the press release. “Our company is focused on addressing the severe housing affordability crisis in Los Angeles, while also attracting retailers willing to make long-term commitments.”