Harbor View office plans resubmitted

Expected to make nearly 1.2 million square feet of office space available at 320 to 350 Blomquist St., the project plans are set to go before the City Council at either its July 24 or Aug. 28 meeting, according to Assistant City Manager Aaron Aknin.

Laura Teutschel, spokeswoman for The Jay Paul Company, said a community meeting held earlier this year at the Redwood City Police Activities League, 3399 Bay Road, an open house planned for July 12 at the Highland Community Club, 1665 Fernside St., and other meetings with community groups are expected to collect more community input on the plans than was collected last year.

Aknin confirmed the developer is including many of the same project specifications for the 27-acre site in its resubmittal, and will be requesting an amendment to the zones indicated for the site in the city’s general plan. Though the site currently allows for industrial uses, the developer is asking for it to be updated to allow commercial park uses.

The developer had previously proposed a plan including more than 1.3 million square feet of office space and buildings reaching nine stories when the project was considered as a component of the city’s inner harbor specific plan, but scaled the plans back to 1.2 million square feet of office space and seven stories when the Planning Commission opted to decouple the review process for the project and the specific plan in 2016.

Teutschel said the developer is offering a community benefits package totaling some $70 million to include prefunding for the $26 million Blomquist Street bridge and road extension project aimed at connecting Whipple Avenue to Seaport Boulevard as well as the Highway 101 interchange project at Woodside Road. Among the other benefits connected to the project are funding already dedicated toward the city’s Boys and Girls Club facilities and programming as well as the provision of a public waterfront park.

Representing the citizens group Redwood City Residents for Responsible Development, Kris Johnson said the city has conducted a public planning process to develop its general plan, downtown precise plan and has heard from Redwood City residents objecting to large development projects on the east side of Highway 101 as these processes unfolded and in the time since they have been put in place.

“This is the wrong project in the wrong place because it places the vast majority of Redwood City’s office growth away from downtown and away from transit,” he said in an email. “It’s clear what Redwood City residents want out there, but these developers don’t care and won’t listen.”

Johnson was also concerned the community benefits the developer has proposed might not adequately address increased traffic congestion and other effects the development might have on Redwood City.

A community open house is scheduled for 6 p.m to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, at the Highland Community Club, 1665 Fernside St. Visit rwcharborview.com/housing for information about the project.

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