California Costco store featuring affordable housing complex breaks ground
SOUTH LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A new Costco store that will feature low-income and workforce apartments in South Los Angeles broke ground on Wednesday.
FOX 11 first told you about real estate firm Thrive Living's plan for the mixed-use concept building located at 5035 Coliseum Street last year.
The project will convert an unused five-acre commercial site in Baldwin Village into a complex with 800 residential units and the neighborhood's first Costco.
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According to Thrive, Costco's new state-of-the-art store will feature fresh produce, healthy food options, optical services, a pharmacy, and delivery services for the community.
Renderings shared with FOX 11 indicate 184 apartments - 23% of the total apartment rental units - will be dedicated to low-income housing.
The remaining apartments would be non-subsidized affordable and workforce housing available to renters with Section 8 vouchers, including families and seniors in South Los Angeles.
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According to the developer, the project is expected to take two and a half years to complete. It will feature amenities such as a fitness center, high-tech shared workspaces for residents, study space for students, community rooms connected to courtyards and a rooftop pool.
"We couldn't be happier to redevelop this underutilized property into a community asset that creates jobs, generates tax revenues, and addresses the shortage of affordable and workforce housing," Ben Shaoul, founder of Thrive Living, said in a statement.
According to Thrive, the project is the first new housing community in LA to move forward under AB-2011, which was approved to help address California's dire housing crisis by streamlining approval for projects such as those dedicated to low-income housing.
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"Today, Thrive Living and Costco are breaking ground in more ways than one, with an incredible collaboration that uses our new state laws to transform an underutilized space into a prosperous housing project and retail center, with 184 homes dedicated for low-income residents," Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
It's also the first mixed-use development in the U.S. to have a Costco as its anchor retail tenant.
"We are breaking with the old ways of doing things and moving Los Angeles forward. Unprecedented action driven by urgent collaboration in both the public and private sector is what is expected and that's what we are delivering today," LA Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.
Thrive estimates that up to 400 jobs will be created at the location. Construction for the mixed-use project is estimated to support thousands of jobs.
City News Service contributed to this report.