A plan to redevelop an aging shopping center into an urban retail village in Downtown Redwood City has been reconfigured to include more homes.
City officials have proposed jettisoning offices, adding homes and building an elevated Caltrain terminal at Sequoia Station at 1057 El Camino Real, the San Jose Mercury New reported. Lowe, a developer based in Los Angeles, bought out the remaining half of the 12-acre shopping center in December for $73 million, with plans to turn it into a shopping destination and transit hub.
The firm aims to construct 3 million square feet of housing, offices, parking and public open space at Sequoia Station. https://sequoiacentervision.com/project-proposal/
When originally proposed in 2019, the project to revamp the aging Sequoia Station shopping center included a 17-story office building surrounded by three 10-story buildings and two eight-story buildings, according to the Mercury News.
With changes in the office market, however, it’s unlikely any of the buildings would rise more than 10 or 12 stories, and some may not get built at all.
In January, Lowe filed plans to build six mixed-use “blocks,” to include offices, apartments and ground-floor shops and restaurants, according to SFYimby. The project, designed by HOK Architects, would retain the center’s CVS and Safeway retail anchors.
In order to increase the likelihood of the project, city staffers want to reduce the amount of office space from the current 1.6 million square feet to about 1.2 million. This would allow more housing when the transit center is redeveloped.
Creating a new Transit District would also help realize the city’s housing goals, they said.
The revised plan would increase the number of homes from 631 to 1,100 apartments, including 165 to 220 affordable units. The office uses would require in-lieu fees of $29 million or about 123 more affordable homes.
The proposed affordable housing would help the city reach a state-mandated housing goal of 4,588 units by 2031 and increase ridership for Caltrain, which has struggled to regain riders since the pandemic.
Plans call for redeveloping Caltrain’s Redwood City station as the transit agency seeks to electrify the corridor and add new trains. Caltrain would build an elevated station above a central bus depot, maintaining bus and rail service close to El Camino Real and the city’s business district.
— Dana Bartholomew
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