SAN FRANCISCO-Construction has begun on the $1.6 billion firstphase of the new Transbay Transit Center and Park in the Downtown.The complex, designed by architect PelliClarke Pelli, will connect the city and the Bay Areavia 11 public transit systems, as well as serve at the first UShigh-speed rail station as part of the California High Speed Railline.

Fred Clarke, senior principal at the firm, said the project willalso spur development in the blocks surrounding the site at Firstand Mission streets. “We want this to be a great transit center,one by which the city is perceived, but it must also be a greatneighbor,” he said in a statement.

A few firms have already made deals in anticipation of the newstation. For example, Los Angeles-based CIM Group, which acquiredthe 372,000-square-foot Charles Schwab & Co. headquartersbuilding here at 211 Main St. early this year, said the redevelopmentof the terminal is one of the projects that is raisingthe profile of the area.