Antidote to housing crisis and urban sprawl? 800 apartments over a Costco in downtown LA

As some of the most destructive fires in California's history ravaged Los Angeles neighborhoods and destroyed thousands of homes, an innovative mixed-use development broke ground in South LA. The project, which combines a Costco store on the ground floor with 800 residential units above, is the first partnership of its kind between the retailer and a residential developer.

Developer Thrive Living aims to transform a former office property into a vibrant community hub. With 23% of units going to low-income households, the complex will address both housing affordability and availability, critical issues the city was already grappling with before the recent fires made a dire situation even worse.

The project's downtown location highlights a growing recognition that dense, mixed-use developments in city centers provide multiple advantages. For places prone to wildfires, like California, they offer the benefit of lower fire risks compared to sprawling neighborhoods in the wildland urban interface (the zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development). For retailers in every housing-crunched region, meanwhile, they're an opportunity to do a massive amount of good — and acquire built-in customers and workers, to boot ;-) Construction of the 'Costco apartments' is expected to conclude in 2027.