Redwood City weighs in on Sequoia Station

The proposed area of redevelopment encompasses 17.5 acres of land, 12 acres made up by Sequoia Station, a 2.5-acre bus station, a 2.5 acre Perry parcel slated for future track development and a 0.4 acres A-1 Party Rental site.

Caltrain envisions expanding Sequoia Station to four tracks to allow for trains to pass at 15-minute intervals. Doing so would require additional space through the demolition of the nearby Safeway and CVS. Expanded service would connect the Peninsula to the East Bay, the Dumbarton Rail and High-Speed Rail.

The redeveloped land would bring 1.25 million square feet of office space, 175,000 square feet of retail space and up to 625 housing units to the city. Of the housing units, 225 would be affordable. Depending on the height allowances offered by the city, market-rate units would range between 275 and 400.

A family entertainment space would be included in the development along with child care and public green spaces. In an interview, developers were unable at this point to commit to providing subsidies such as in the nearby Greystar development that offered 10 years of free rent to its child care space and reduced rent for its family entertainment operator.

The proposal was initially presented Jan. 26 but, after taking an hour and a half of public comment, the council opted to postpone the discussion until the following meeting. Public comment was mixed with some expressing support for community benefits and proposed affordable housing units and others strongly opposed to the amount of office space proposed.

Supporters include the Chamber San Mateo County, Greenbelt Alliance, Housing Leadership Council and the Redwood City Downtown Business Group.

Robert Wilson, a Redwood City resident, noted the office space is equivalent to that making up San Francisco’s Salesforce building. Many also raised concern for the jobs-housing imbalance that would be exacerbated by the amount of office space proposed.

Councilmember Lissette Espinoza-Garnica called for the creation of a jobs-housing balance taskforce to help level out the number of housing units to office space. Espinoza-Garnica also requested better public outreach regarding community sentiment toward the development, an issue supported by the other councilmembers. City Manager Melissa Stevenson-Diaz noted staff time constraints would make pursuing the initiative difficult, time-consuming and stalling to the projects.

“We have a major imbalance going on that goes with the housing crisis,” said Espinoza-Garnica. “If we could go further into seeing what our residents are interested in seeing I'd be interested in seeing that.”

Echoing Espinoza-Garnica, Councilwoman Diane Reddy shared concerns about the amount of office space incorporated into the project. Staff noted the Transit District would see roughly 1,000 housing units in the area but Reddy called on the developer to minimize its contribution to the jobs-housing imbalance.

“I really want to see the transit part, the grade separation, all the pieces fit together but I think there's still a piece missing and I’d really like to see that come forward with something different and have staff understand how the city’s doing. That we’re taking over this project and that it’s not driven or led by developers,” said Councilwoman Alicia Aguirre.

Reddy and other councilmembers also expressed concern for review processes for other developments being linked in the district, holding back projects approved through the city’s gatekeeper processes.

During the Gatekeeper process, a mixed-use development at 901, 947, and 999 El Camino Real where an Autozone sits with a building at 2529 Broadway, was denied following the developer’s offsite addition of a residential building at 2529 Broadway. The 901 site, where A-1 Party Rental sits, would be home to a 60-unit affordable housing building.

Because the Broadway building fell within the Transit District, city officials felt it should be considered within the district's planning. City staff said projects would move forward in a timely fashion.

Grade separation of six intersections, which requires train tracks to be raised above vehicle traffic lanes, has also been proposed in the city. The crossings are located at Whipple and Brewster avenues, Broadway and Maple, Main and Chestnut streets. Major crossings at Jefferson Avenue and Woodside Road are already grade-separated.

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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