Broadway Plaza plans in progress: Long runway for mixed-use project in Redwood City’s Broadway Plaza

The impending plans, though currently incomplete and months from final review, have shuttered many of the businesses in operation at the shopping center. Peter Tsai, vice president of real estate development at The Sobrato Organization, said Office Max, Big Lots and Foods Co, three former tenants, opted not to renew their leases in recent months. All three businesses have closed, though other businesses, including Taqueria Mar Y Tierra at 1475 Broadway, remain open. The locations of the Denny’s and the Jack in the Box at the corner of Woodside Road and Broadway are outside of the redevelopment plans.

CVS/pharmacy at 1301 Broadway is slated to remain in the shopping center, but will relocate to a new building planned for the corner of Bay Road and Woodside Road.

“We have retail locations [in the plan] and we would love to have some of the same tenants and also local tenants occupy these spaces,” said Tsai.

Tsai acknowledged the potential difficulties current tenants face in continuing to operate their businesses as the new development takes shape. Tsai said he and city staff are in the process of updating plans submitted late last year, which he hopes will be resubmitted in February. The project is also undergoing a review process to assess its environmental impact.

In contrast to the parking lot and one-story retail buildings that currently mark the landscape, the plans most recently submitted in late October lay out a set of residential buildings on the side of the plot bordered by Chestnut Street, Broadway and Bay Road. Office and retail spaces emanate from the Woodside Road side of the plot, with a public park, pedestrian walkway and a dog run nestled between the two clusters of buildings. Residential buildings, which will contain studio as well as one- and two-bedroom units, may reach as high as six stories, while office buildings are expected to top off at five stories. Underground parking structures beneath both residential and commercial buildings will provide 1,845 spaces.

The plan also describes the new plaza’s potential to be a transit node, with short connections to the Redwood City Caltrain station and the recently approved Stanford in Redwood City campus, both of which are less than a mile away, via a streetcar network proposed under the city’s General Plan.

Tsai was encouraged by a community meeting held in December, and said that two other similar meetings are yet to be held in addition to meetings with individuals and neighborhood associations to solicit public feedback. Assistant City Manager Aaron Aknin said the city has received a few emails detailing concerns about the loss of Foods Co.

Because a full proposal and environmental assessment for the project are still in progress, Tsai does not expect the landscape to change significantly in the coming months.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 102