Redwood City Council approves Gatekeeper project, affordable housing

Now, the proposed mixed-use office space at 901 El Camino Real is moving along with a land donation at 920 Shasta St. that will bring one-, two-, and three-bedroom units to low-income families. The proposal will allow children of low-income families to have better access to “high opportunity areas,” Councilmember Isabella Chu said. 

“I love that this is family housing,” Chu said. “Pretty much everything good that we know how to measure increases monotonically, so to see that this is family housing is particularly exciting.” 

Councilmembers celebrated the housing proposal for its intention toward families, increasing open space available to them, and its aesthetic quality. 

“I’ve seen lots of affordable buildings, I have not seen one like this,” Mayor Elmer Martínez Saballos said. “I think it’s a really unique design which I think is always the first thing to go when you’re trying to build something like this.” 

The office building’s teen center looks to provide a space for Redwood City’s youth where they can convene and spend time after school hours. Accessibility will be weekdays from 2 p.m. to midnight, on weekends from 7 am. to midnight, and during summer from 11 a.m. to midnight. The center will also be able to be used by the public who will also have access to the open waterway and ecological restoration project along Little River Park, providing a “visual benefit” and a walkable amenity to the community, staff reported.

Plans for the 40,225-square-foot mixed-use space downtown will primarily be dedicated to offices and laboratory use with a 6,500-square-foot teen center. The building will be 92 feet tall, or six stories, with three levels of underground parking. 

Between the office building and teen center would be a 4,000-square-foot public space to be called the “Chrysanthemum Plaza” meant to honor the Japanese American flower growers who gained the city the title of “Chrysanthemum Capital of the World” before the World War II internment. 

The off-site affordable housing proposal is five stories, or 59 feet tall, with 99 deed restricted units for low-income and very low-income residents. The site will include 74 parking spaces, 112 bike spaces and amenities for residents. 

Current plans for the unit makeup include 48 very-low-income restricted units and 51 low-income restricted. It plans to include 11 studios, 38 one-bedroom, 35 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom units. 

The City Council’s approval marks a major milestone in the long-awaited project. Once money is secured for the housing development, it will take approximately 18-20 months to construct.

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