Crane Action Hits the Sunset Strip

High above the world famous Sunset Strip, four construction cranes are hard at work on a transformative mixed-use complex from Los Angeles-based CIM Group.

The Sunset La Cienega development - designed by a team consisting of SOM, LOHA and Mia Lehrer + Associates - will create four mid-rise buildings with condominiums, hotel rooms and ground-floor commercial space.  Work on the $300 million project began in earnest nearly two years ago, with the clearing of several vacant structures at the intersection of Sunset and La Cienega Boulevards.

The mid-rise buildings, which will occupy two corners of the intersection, faced numerous hurdles prior to breaking ground in mid-2013.  Originally approved in 1999 under the name of Sunset Millennium, the project remained stalled for nearly fifteen amidst litigation and weak market conditions.  CIM Group purchased the roughly five-acre property and its development rights in 2011.

UCLA Medical School Expansion Takes Form

Photo credit: Daniel Castro

More than one year after breaking ground at Tiverton Drive and Le Conte Avenue, UCLA's new Teaching and Learning Center for Health Sciences is finally climbing upwards.  The $120 million facility, funded with a combination of cash reserves and philanthropic donations, constitutes a 110,000 square foot expansion of the David Geffen School of Medicine.

The low-rise structure, designed by architectural giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, will consolidate a significant portion of the medical school's classroom space, which is currently dispersed in eleven outdated buildings.  Renderings portray a six-story building, clad with glass and red brick, which shall serve as a new southern gateway to the UCLA campus.

When completed in 2016, the TLC will incorporate technology-enabled classrooms, a clinical skills training center, flexible teaching labs, administrative offices and student gathering space.  The university is seeking LEED-Gold certification for the facility.

Photo credit: SOM

Two Civic Center Projects Making Progress

Construction on Downtown's $400 million Federal Courthouse has moved at a leisurely pace since work commenced in August 2013.  Now, with the arrival of a tower crane at 1st Street and Broadway, the long awaited Civic Center mega-project is finally going vertical.  Scheduled to open in 2016, the project comprises 600,000 square feet of floor area, calling for 24 courtrooms and 32 judge's chambers.  Designed by SOM, the 10-story mid-rise is commonly referred to as "the Cube," due to its stout, boxy profile.  The courthouse, first proposed in 2001, navigated a long series of obstacles on the way to its groundbreaking ceremony last year.  Originally envisioned as a 17-story, 41-room facility, the project stalled out in 2006 amidst skyrocketing costs and chronic delays.  After the proposal was revived in 2011, it was met with further opposition from Republican members of California's Congressional delegation, who pushed for the Federal Government to sell the 3.6 acre property to a private developer.  However, the GSA and local Congressional representatives held firm, allowing for the long stalled Courthouse to finally inch toward reality.

Image credit: SOM

UCLA Getting 6-Stories of TLC

Teaching and Learning Center of Health for Health Sciences.  All images from UCLA.

In late September, UCLA broke ground on a $120 million expansion of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the corner of Le Conte and Tiverton.  The Teaching and Learning Center for Health Sciences, which the administration gleefully refers to as TLC, will stand six-stories and span 110,000 square feet.  The project was paid for using a combination of cash reserves and philanthropic donations.  TLC will allow UCLA to consolidate a significant portion of the medical school's classroom space, which is currently spread between 11 different buildings.  It also includes teaching labs, study space, administrative offices and a clinical skills center.  The Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed project is expected to wrap up in 2016.

Interior courtyard of TLC

View of TLC's eastern elevation

Close up on TLC's southern elevation

• Geffen School of Medicine Gets Some 'TLC' as Campus Breaks Ground on Innovative Center (UCLA)

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)

Downtown Los Angeles Federal Courthouse Starting to Push Dirt?

Within the past two weeks, trailers have appeared on the massive dirt lot on Hill street in-between 1st and 2nd.  It appears that groundbreaking on the LA's new (and very controversial) $400 million dollar Federal Courthouse is imminent.

Viewed from Hill Street

The courthouse is to be designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.  The site for the courthouse has been vacant for years.  A government office building previously stood on the site, but was later demolished due to damage from the 1995 Northridge earthquake.  Although the final design is not as spectacular as the much larger $1.1 billion building originally envisioned for the site, it's still exciting to see the long-standing eyesore finally developed (but certain locals who used the lot for sunbathing may be disappointed).