The only real con to shopping at big-box retailer Costco is having to lug all your bulk purchases to the car and then into your house, but the beloved warehouse store just solved that problem for some lucky Los Angeles residents.

Just today, privately-owned developer Thrive Living broke ground on their new Costco store-slash-apartment building in the Baldwin Village neighborhood of South L.A. That's right—the 800-unit housing development that's situated right above a Costco store is officially under construction. This mammoth building will be the first new housing unit in the city to move forward under state law AB 2011, which was designed to combat California's housing crisis.

Just last year, Costco announced in a press release that they were going to build a new warehouse in the City of Angels with 800 apartments and a myriad of amenities stacked on top of it, such as a rooftop pool. Because of state law AB 2011, 184 of those units will be set aside for affordable housing.

According to SFGATE, the big-box retailer is working with Thrive Living as well as architecture firm AO to build this project on a five-acre lot that was previously the site of a hospital. The multiuse structure will feature necessary parking for residents and Costco shoppers alike, as well as a fitness area, community space, multiple courtyards, landscaped paths, and urban gardens.

The building will be located at 5035 W. Coliseum Street, just east of La Brea Avenue. In the initial news release, Jordan Brill of Thrive Living said: "Mayor Bass has declared a housing emergency in Los Angeles, and we’re answering the call. Our company is focused on addressing the severe housing affordability crisis in Los Angeles while also attracting retailers willing to make long-term commitments and deliver community-serving products and services that enrich the living experience for our residents and neighbors."

We're interested in how exactly Costco can succeed in making this gigantic warehouse with so many housing units on top of it and how they're planning on doing it so quickly. In a post on X, housing activist Joe Cohen explains that the retailer and Thrive Living are relying on pre-fab apartment modules that can be loaded onto and transported via trucks to keep building and labor costs low. These modules are, of course, fairly small, meaning they leave a smaller footprint and allow for more units to be created altogether.

In the same X post, Cohen basically explains that stores like these are hard to get approved in L.A. and that even when they are green-lit, the process is long and could cost millions of dollars just in consultant fees. However, if a company wants to build a mixed-use housing project that meets certain state-level criteria—like two-thirds of the building's square footage being residential space in Costco's case—then they're automatically exempt from discretionary reviews.

Though Cohen did refer to the design of the building as a "prison" because of the rows upon rows of units running alongside long hallways, he told SFGATE that he is "definitely in support of this project."

The project will reportedly create up to 400 new jobs and be accessible by public transit, so get ready to witness more bulk purchases lugged around on the bus or train. Luckily for the residents of the Costco apartment building, shopping sprees at the beloved retailer will only be a few floors away from home.

House Beautiful

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