Project to replace Gable House Bowl but retain Mid-Century aesthetic
Intracorp will soon bulldoze a 63-year-old bowling alley in Torrance to build more than 200 homes in what is believed to be the city’s first large apartment project in a half century.
The Vancouver-based developer is expected to break ground this summer on the 218-unit apartment complex at 22501 South Hawthorne Boulevard, Urbanize Los Angeles reported.
It will replace Gable House Bowl, a 40-lane bowling alley that opened in 1960 and closed this year after business fell during the pandemic.
The 3.8-acre project, dubbed The Gable House Apartments in honor of the former 10-pin hangout, will include 218 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments along with 12,000 square feet of ground-floor shops and restaurants. Seventeen units will be set aside as affordable.
The apartments will include a swimming pool, fitness center, outdoor decks and a co-working area.
Intracorp expects to complete the project in 2025.
Gable House, among the first large multifamily rental projects built in Torrance in 50 years, could set the stage for more housing in the South Bay city as state housing legislation forces local jurisdictions to relax zoning rules, according to Urbanize.
In March, the city approved a 200-unit apartment complex by Foster City-based Legacy Partners that will replace a parking lot at Del Amo Circle West and Carson Street, just west of Hawthorne Boulevard.
Torrance had three operating bowling alleys in 2020. The loss of the Gable House Bowl leaves the city with one remaining set of lanes, the Bowlero, which opened as the Bowl-O-Drome in 1957 at 21915 South Western Avenue, according to the Torrance Daily Breeze.
The Googie-style Palos Verdes Bowl at 24600 Crenshaw Boulevard, which opened in 1958, closed in 2020. It was replaced by a shopping center with an Aldi grocery store, Chick-fil-A and a Kinecta Federal Credit Union.
Intracorp is razing two office buildings in Tustin to build 18 duplexes and four single-family homes at 17802 and 17842 Irvine Boulevard.
— Dana Bartholomew