Large Redwood LIFE project could get study in Redwood City

The site would include 13 office structures, a 104-room hotel and a 46,000-square-foot amenities center including a conference and meeting center, food hall and outdoor terrace and three parking structures distributed across the campus. In addition to funding levee improvements along Redwood Shores, an $85 million investment into affordable housing and $2 million investment into child care are also project commitments.

The proposal has received mixed reviews with housing, business and labor groups encouraging the city to back it while many Redwood Shores neighbors plead with the city to intervene. Those against the project argue it is too large for the area, would disrupt lives with its 25-year construction plan and negatively affect the environment.

“This is one of the last beautiful and serene waterfront communities that remain in the Bay Area,” said Faryall Saiidnia, a Redwood Shores resident and engineer. “I appreciate that Longfellow wants to make an investment into our community and bring new jobs here but it also has to be thoughtfully designed. It has to be sized appropriately for the surrounding community and the existing infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, those in favor of the project say it will bring in much-needed tax revenue for the city which faces long-term projected budget deficits, jobs, especially for union labor workers, and other benefits like improved sea-level rise resiliency, a beautified Bayfront, child care and housing.

“I am their neighbor. This is the neighborlike thing to do to get to the next step of this project, to study everything from the inside and the outside and how it will affect us as a region whether it’s downtown Redwood City, Redwood Shores or just the region in general,” said Mary Morrissey Parden, a Redwood Shores resident of more than 30 years, a former Redwood Shores Owners Association board president and former member of the GID 1964 Committee which helped develop the neighborhood.

Planning commissioners also seemed to have mixed feelings about the proposal, both underscoring its benefits and acknowledging the community’s concerns. Commissioner Anthony Lazarus encouraged the public to not see the project as a “zero-sum” issue that will only negatively impact them while Chair Rick Hunter said the proposed community benefits were inadequate compared to the size of the project.

Vice Chair Filip Crnogorac also worried the environmental study wouldn’t include adequate smaller alternatives but Peter Fritz, Longfellow’s senior director of development, said the team plans to work closely with consultants to bring forward strong options, a promise the company also made to Stop Redwood LIFE, an effort led by husband-and-wife duo Brigitte and Earl Aiken who have opposed of the project.

“We’re looking to get the studies done to be able to address questions and work with the city and community once we have the data and the facts to know what modifications are necessary to mitigate those impacts,” Fritz said. “We’re fully committed to a project that works for everyone but we need the third-party analysis done by the city, paid by the applicant, to have that information to make those compromises.”

Commissioners unanimously agreed to recommend the council initiate the preparation of a new precise plan for the area which would include an updated environmental study into how the project as proposed would affect the area. The site’s current Westport Specific Plan was initially adopted in 1985 and hasn’t been updated since 1995.

When reviewing the project in April, councilmembers agreed Longfellow should conduct more outreach to find common ground with the Redwood Shores neighborhood. Commissioners reiterated that encouragement Tuesday and agreed to ask the council to require the outreach while they consider whether to initiate the studies.