Intracorp to Demolish Torrance Bowling Alley for Apartments

Intracorp Homes will soon demolish the Gable House Bowl, a decades-old bowling alley and popular hangout in Torrance, in order to make way for a 218-unit luxury apartment complex.

The wrecking bowl is coming in August, the Daily Breeze reported.

Intracorp’s project will be five stories and include 218 total units, including 17 affordable units, as well as 12,000 square feet of commercial space. The complex, called Gable House Apartments, is the developer’s first new multifamily complex in L.A. County in several years, according to IntraCorp’s website, and will feature amenities including a sky deck and pool lounge.

The project will add another high-profile multifamily complex to Torrance, a city of around 150,000 in L.A.’s South Bay region that has sometimes resisted new development. Last year, after the controversial lot splitting law SB 9 came into play, the city banded together with three other L.A. County cities to sue the state over the pro-density law. Last fall, faced with a state-issued mandate to plan for around 5,000 more homes, the city did, however, come up with a housing plan that was accepted state authorities.

The Gable House Apartments, which are located at 22501 Hawthorne Boulevard, a major north-south commercial road, are expected to open in 2025, according to Intracorp.

The project has drawn praise from the city’s mayor, who said in a statement that investments along Hawthorne Boulevard like the Gable House Apartments “will help keep Torrance moving forward,” but it has also provoked skepticism from some local residents who see an iconic community space being replaced by a project with only a small number of affordable units.

“Because real estate is at such a premium, no one is going to forego placing apartments for a community institution like a bowling alley,” one South Bay resident told the Daily Breeze. “It just really highlighted the imbalance that we’re going to see more of as land is rezoned for housing.”

The bowling alley first opened in 1960. Intracorp recently closed on its $21 million purchase of the site.

— Trevor Bach