With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and local officials in attendance, the YWCA Greater Los Angeles held a topping out last week for its new downtown Job Corps Urban Campus.

The seven-story, 154,000-sq-ft, mixed-use Urban Campus will feature a state-of-the-art library, residential units, modernized health facilities, indoor lounges, computer and study rooms, campus-wide green spaces, kitchen, serving and dining facilities, classrooms, amphitheatre and executive offices for the YWCA GLA.

PCL Construction Services is the general contractor on the $73 million project while Jenkins/Gales & Martinez is the architect. Redstone Project Management is serving as construction manager.

The YWCA GLA Job Corps Urban Campus will provide free housing, meals and vocational training to local youth ages 16 to 24 years old. The program serves approximately 1,200 youth each year, with some participants having off-campus housing. The students are typically at-risk, previously homeless and emancipated foster kids. The two-year program nurtures youths who would otherwise be caught in a cycle of crime and poverty and provides a support system to enable them to learn a trade, social skills and life skills to become employable and self sufficient.

The reinforced concrete building, located at 1031 South Hill Street, is aiming for a LEED silver certification.

Founded in 1894, the YWCA/GLA is currently operated out of six buidings in downtown Los Angeles around South Hill Street and West 11th Street with an additional residential facility in Hollywood.