More housing planned in Redwood City

Councilmembers unanimously approved a resolution granting the developers behind the six-story project, Premier Properties, the amendments and permits it needed to build its project. Once complete, the 25,264-square-foot site on the corner of El Camino Real and Madison Avenue will have 130 homes, a community garden, rooftop kitchen, open space, a gym and community room.

Of the units, 105 would be studio apartments, 14 one-bedroom apartments, eight two-bedroom apartments and three three-bedroom apartments. A total of 26 units, about 20%, would be listed at below-market rate — 13 listed at moderately low, six at low affordability and seven at very low.

The existing building would have to be demolished to make way for the new development. It’s been home to The Record Man, one of the last record shops in the area, for more than 30 years along with a doughnut shop, Happy Donuts, and Cycle Gear, a shop selling motorcycle parts and gear.

The site was also once designated as a historic city resource but staff noted that designation was revoked after a third review found the structure did not meet necessary criteria needed to qualify for the title. The study, commissioned by the city to settle two earlier conflicting findings, was accepted by the Historic Resources Advisory Committee in June of 2020.

Still, Councilmember Diane Howard asked that the development team review the site for any signs or equipment that can be preserved. She also asked that the developer consider including a piece of public art in the project.

“It’s an opportunity for you to really make a statement and make this building super spectacular. Stain glass could be one thing, but you can come up with something better than that,” Howard said.

Aside from public art and preserving history, the council also stressed the importance of incorporating more extremely-low-income units into developments and in using union labor for construction.

City Attorney Victoria Ramirez said cities are limited in the types of development standards they can impose on housing developers, particularly if the standard would make the project feasible. Still, councilmembers agreed they’d like to further study ways to increase ELI units and the use of union labor in future projects.

“You are entering a district that is predominantly extremely low income and a largely marginalized community so I think it’s good to be mindful of the area you’re building in,” Vice Mayor Lissette Espinoza-Garnica said.

Another project discussed during Monday’s meeting will meet both of the council’s goals for building extremely low-income units with union labor — a 110-unit project proposed by the county at 1580 Maple St.

The development will be built on a 1.5-acre site the city traded with the county as part of a land swap agreement in 2021. That agreement has enabled the city to pursue its plans of extending Blomquist Street across Redwood Creek to Bair Island while helping the county develop a new navigation center that should open this March.

The units will count toward Redwood City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation goals set by the state as part of its housing element process. The state recently approved the city’s housing element which calls out sites where it hopes to build nearly 6,900 units.

County officials have also lauded the project as key for reaching its goal of functional zero, meaning homelessness will become rare, brief and never chronic in the county.

“We’re not quite there yet but we’re close,” said Ray Hodges, director of the county’s Department of Housing, during Monday’s council meeting. “There’s a lot in the works, a lot going on and we’re going to reach functional zero this year.”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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