Watch USC Build Its Mixed-Use Village in Real Time

Earlier this month, USC officially broke ground on its long-awaited Village development.  The first phase of the $650 million project will expand the existing campus north by 15 acres, adding a combination of student housing, academic facilities and community-serving retail space.  As has been the case with other recent capital investments, USC Facilities Management has set up a live-feed camera focused on project, allowing Trojans and all other interested parties to stay up-to-date on the Village's progress.  A battalion of dump trucks was recently seen streaming through the construction site, hauling away dirt in preparation for foundation work.

When completed in late 2017, the first phase of the Village will yield new academic facilities, housing for up to 2,700 students, and 115,000 square feet of street-level commercial stalls.  The low-rise buildings - designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux in the school's signature Collegiate Gothic style - will be oriented around an expansive central plaza.  Trader Joe's, the trendy grocer which consistently eludes nearby Downtown Los Angeles, was recently announced as a ground-floor tenant.

Later phases of the development would tackle two adjacent city blocks, encompassing an additional 15 acres between Vermont and McClintock Avenues.  A full build out of the Village will carry an approximately $1.1 billion price tag, creating more than two million square feet of programmed area.

Watch Metropolis Reshape the Downtown Skyline

Your eyes do not deceive you: the surface parking lot at the corner of 9th and Francisco Streets is no more.  With a $39 million taxpayer subsidy in hand, Shanghai's Greenland Real Estate Group has officially commenced work on the first half of the long-awaited Metropolis development.  A skeleton crew quietly kicked off on the $1 billion project yesterday morning, stripping asphalt from the phase one site.  The dirt lot seen above will eventually birth high-rise towers of 19 and 38 stories, creating 350 hotel rooms and 308 condominium units above street-level retail space.  San Francisco-based Webcor Builders, general contractor for the Metropolis development, has fortunately installed a construction camera directly across 9th Street.  Take your progress updates every fifteen minutes in glorious HD.

The Greenland Group is currently in the planning stages for a more grandiose phase two of the project, which would create larger buildings near the intersection of 8th and Francisco Streets.  Gensler-designed plans filed with the city call for a total of 1,250 condominium units and 67,000 feet of commercial space.  An updated rendering of Metropolis from brokerage firm Douglas Elliman portrays the second phase with two additional towers, featuring glass exteriors and sloping roof lines (see below).

Watch Grand Avenue's Parcel M Tower Sprout in Two Minutes

With so much attention focused on the new Frank Gehry designs for Parcel Q, it's easy to forget that the Grand Avenue Project already has one residential building under construction.  The 19-story Parcel M Tower broke ground in late 2012, and is now topped out just south of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The Arquitectonica designed building carries a $120 million price tag, and is slated to open its 271 apartments late this year.  In the meantime, check out the Parcel M Tower's live webcam, which has focused on the project site since shortly after groundbreaking.  Perched atop the Colburn School, the camera provides a speedy time lapse video of the building's construction from ground level to its 215 foot apex above Grand Avenue.  Making a guest appearance in the lower right hand corner is the Diller Scofidio + Refro designed Broad Museum.  The $140 million project will share a pedestrian plaza with the residential tower when it opens, also in late 2014.

Watch Anaheim's Iconic Transit Hub Take Form

Images by Rubbertoe of the Transit Coalition Forum

Over the weekend, Transit Coalition forumer Rubbertoe snapped a few pictures of construction work on the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center, otherwise known as ARTIC.  The $180 million station is situated within Anaheim's Platinum Triangle, with easy access to the Honda Center, Disneyland, Angel Stadium and the Anaheim Convention Center.  The  Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum designed project will link multiple OCTA bus lines and the future Anaheim Streetcar with Metrolink and Amtrak train service.  ARTIC is also planned to serve as the southern terminus for Phase 1 of California High Speed Rail, providing one seat rides to Los Angeles Union Station and San Francisco's Transbay Terminal.  The first phase of CAHSR is scheduled to open in 2029, assuming that cost overruns and legal hurdles don't derail the project.  Of course, that's a big assumption given the current political landscape.  In the meantime, check out the construction camera tracking ARTIC's progress.  The station is scheduled to open late in 2014.

Still image from ARTIC's construction camera

• ARTIC Construction (Transit Coalition)
• ARTIC (Official Website)
• Build ARTIC (Construction Camera)

Watch the Feds Build Downtown LA's New Courthouse

Back in July, the Los Angeles Times announced that Downtown's long awaited Federal Courthouse had finally broken ground.  The 10-story edifice, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), will rise from the corner of 1st and Broadway.  SOM and Clark Construction want to make sure that everyone can see the $400 million project under construction, so they installed a webcam across the street.  There's not much to see yet, but the lot will eventually be home to 24 courtrooms and 32 judge's chambers.  Completion is scheduled for 2016.

Image from SOM

The Federal Courthouse is just one of several projects seeking to reinvent the Civic Center.  On the opposite side of 1st Street, the LA Downtown News reports that the city recently purchased a long vacant parcel from the State of California, with the intention of converting it into park space.  According to the LA Times, the General Services Administration has plans to trade the existing Spring Street Courthouse to a developer who would, in exchange, build an Federal office building next-door to the new courthouse.  Finally, the perpetually stalled Grand Avenue Project is intended to rise on the parking lots to the west of the new courthouse.  However, that project was recently dealt yet another setback, when the Grand Avenue Authority unanimously rejected developer Related California's revised plans.

• New United States Courthouse (Construction Camera)
• New Federal Courthouse for Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles Times)
• Downtown Los Angeles Federal Courthouse Starting to Push Dirt? (Building Los Angeles)

Watch Metro Build the Expo Line's Downtown Santa Monica Station

A few weeks ago, Transit Coalition Forumer Gokhan linked to a Santa Monica website featuring a live construction camera for the Expo Line's future Downtown Santa Monica Station.  This location will soon become an epicenter for pedestrian activity in Santa Monica, with the Expo Line expected to carry 64,000 passengers per day by 2030.  Downtown Santa Monica Station will be in close proximity to the Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place.  A slew of proposals for new mixed-use developments have also emerged within walking distance of the station.

Artist's rendering of the Downtown Santa Monica terminus of the Expo Line; Image from BuildExpo.

Several of the developments planned or recently opened near the Downtown Santa Monica Station.  Clockwise from the top right corner: Related California's Village at Santa Monica, Tongva Park, the proposed 15-story re-development of the Wyndham Santa Monica, 500 Broadway.  Images from Related California, City of Santa Monica, Jerde Partnership and Curbed LA.

• Transit Coalition Forum
• Expo Light Rail (City of Santa Monica)