Culver City Gun Store to Become Affordable Housing

A former gun store in Culver City is slated for redevelopment as affordable housing.

Culver City’s City Council voted to greenlight West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation’s Washington Palms proposal, Westside Today reported.

The city purchased Martin B. Retting Gun Store, when it was closing in 2023, for more than $6 million to prevent another one from opening, KTLA reported.

Culver City officials previously considered applications from developers before directing staff to enter into an exclusive negotiation agreement with West Hollywood Community Housing for the affordable housing development.

The developer’s plan calls for replacing a triangular commercial building at 11029 Washington Boulevard with a seven-story residential structure with 67 affordable units along with ground-floor artist spaces and a community art center. The project is expected to cost roughly $50.2 million, or about $749,000 per unit.

Washington Palms would consist of one- and two-bedroom apartments intended for households earning between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income. In Los Angeles County, that would work out to an annual income of between $31,850 and $84,850 for one person, or $45,450 to $121,150 for a household of four.

The EYRC Architects designed the development.

The developer proposed using off-site modular construction methods to speed completion of the project.

Culver City is required to plan for 3,341 new housing units by 2029 under the city’s housing element. To meet those goals, city officials have been advancing other residential projects as the deadline approaches.

Link Logistics won approval in November for its proposal to demolish low-rise office buildings at 5757 Uplander Way in the Fox Hills neighborhood and replace them with three seven-story buildings featuring 1,077 total units and 5,772 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Lincoln Property Company modified its plans in July for an apartment complex at 11111 Jefferson Boulevard, abandoning nearly 67,000 square feet of offices to increase housing capacity to 344 units from 230.

— Chris Malone Méndez