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Last December, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the development of 15.6 acres of land surrounding the North Hollywood Red and Orange Line Station. After gauging interest from a number of groups, Metro has narrowed the field down to two teams lead by Greenland USA and the Trammell Crow Company. Greenland USA, the American arm of the Shanghai-based Greenland Group, first emerged onto the scene in 2013 with its revival of the $1-billion Metropolis development in Downtown Los Angeles.

With the debut of the Expo Line’s Santa Monica extension expected by the end of this week, investors are rushing to take advantage of the highly anticipated light rail line with new commercial developments. One block east of the 26th Street/Bergamot Station, construction is now underway on a two-building office complex known as Santa Monica Gateway. The creative campus, which is rising from approximately 1.8-acre site at the southeast corner of Colorado Avenue and Stewart Street, will include a total of 200,000 square feet of office space above a 627-car underground parking garage.

Clearwater Communities, a Newport Beach-based homebuilder, is planning a neighborhood of townhomes in the Eastside community of El Sereno. According to an environmental report published by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, the proposed development would rise from a currently vacant hillside property which fronts Eastern Avenue and Lombardy Boulevard. Plans call for a total of 42 single-family residential dwellings on the five-acre site, each featuring three-to-four bedrooms and a two-car garage.

Just one month after acquiring the project, a joint venture between Legacy Partners, Griffin Capital and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners has announced the start of construction for MODA, a multifamily residential complex near the Gold Line’s Monrovia Station. The five-story development, designed by Architects Orange, will feature 261 residential units, in addition to communal amenities such as a clubhouse, two landscaped courtyards, a roof terrace and a fitness center. MODA is among the first projects in a new transit-oriented district surrounding the Gold Line station, which connects passengers to Pasadena and Downtown Los Angeles.

A gas station on the southern fringe of Los Feliz is poised to give way for a mixed-use development. Last week, Santa Monica-based Dynamic Development Company filed plans with the City of Los Angeles to construct a residential-retail complex at the southeast corner of Western and Franklin Avenues. The project, slated for approximately .86 acres of land, would consist of a five-story building featuring 96 residential units and 5,546 square feet of ground-level commercial space.

Yesterday, the Weintraub Real Estate Group presented their revised plans for a mixed-use development adjacent to the Cathedral of St. Vibiana at a meeting of the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee. The new plans for the Vibiana Lofts call for a nine-story structure designed by Nadel Architects. The building will stand a maximum of 123 feet tall, containing 238 apartment units and 3,600 square feet of ground level commercial space.

Global real estate company Kennedy Wilson has officially launched its leasing effort for the retail and restaurant component of Oceanwide Plaza, a $1-billion mixed-use complex now under construction in Downtown Los Angeles. The project, which is being developed by the Beijing-based Oceanwide Holdings, will feature a 153,000-square-foot selection of shops and eateries dubbed “The Collection at Oceanwide Plaza.“ An official website set up by Kennedy Wilson offers an interactive aerial map and an animated fly-through video of the completed developed.

MVE + Partners, an Orange County-based architecture and planning firm, has announced the groundbreaking of 732 Spring Street, the second of two high-rise developments which the company has designed in Downtown Los Angeles for a joint venture between North American Sekisui House, LLC and developer Holland Partner Group. The $164-million project, located near the intersection of 8th and Spring Streets, consists of a 24-story tower which will feature 300 apartments, 7,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and numerous amenities.

With a number of historic industrial buildings in the Arts District already undergoing conversions to office space, developers have now headed into mostly uncharted territory: ground-up construction. Earlier this week, plans were filed with the City of Los Angeles for the construction of a mid-rise office building along the railroad tracks on the eastern fringe of the neighborhood. The proposed development, slated for a .54-acre site at 2144 E. Violet Street, would consist of a nine-story, 108-foot tall building featuring nearly 91,000 square feet of office space, 6,100 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 274-car garage.

Jamison Services, Inc., one of the city’s largest private landlords, has broken ground on another residential development in Koreatown. The company’s latest project, located at 535 S. Kingsley Drive, will consist of a podium-type structure featuring 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments above a 92-car parking garage. Plans also call for a number of communal amenities, including a fitness center, a community room, a roof deck, and an outdoor swimming pool. The building, designed by Santa Monica’s Killefer Flammang Architects, will be clad with a combination of white and gray metal panels and warm-toned porcelain tile.