Redwood City Planning Commission OKs affordable housing and offices

Plans for the 40,225-square-foot mixed-use space downtown primarily is dedicated to offices and laboratory uses, 2,548 square feet of retail, and 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 the 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. 

“What began as a bold idea to combine housing, office and a teen center has grown into something far greater than that,” John Fong, an office space applicant, said.

The proposal at 901 El Camino Real was initially proposed in 2020 as a single building to combine limited housing, office space and a teen center, but has ultimately shifted to include a land donation off-site for affordable housing that more aptly reflects the needs of the community, Fong said.

“This is no longer a development project, it’s a statement about what we value as a city,” Fong said. 

The proposed community benefits include the excess value associated with the land donation for affordable housing, which is valued approximately $2.8 million more than what would be required in impact fees. It also includes creating a larger creek with decorative fencing that will be publicly accessible. The teen center will be a flexible use space, available for worker use during the day and reserved for teens after school hours, according to the staff report. 

The office space proposal also included a land swap with Caltrain and a closure of a portion of California Street in an effort to improve the city’s street grid, Senior Planner William Chui said. 

The off-site affordable housing proposal is five stories, or 59 feet tall, with 99 deed restrict 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, however, this mix could change as funding streams are finalized, Lara Regus, senior vice president of development for the proposed housing developer, said. 

“We want to be able to be flexible and nimble enough to win the competition but we’re still very much dedicated to serving low-income, very-low-income and extremely-low-income folks,” Regus said. 

Once money is secured for the housing development, it will take approximately 18-20 months to construct, Regus said. 

Commissioners gave applicants kudos for the progress on the joint projects, and unanimously approved both developments to be recommended to the City Council, which will consider the proposals at its meeting April 28.