Redwood City's Powerhouse Gym safe for now

Lane was trying to cut a deal for off-site parking that apparently fell through, Assistant City Manager Aaron Aknin said yesterday.

If Lane submits a revised plan for the site, “we will need to review to see how it complies with the Downtown Precise Plan before it is considered by the Planning Commission,” Aknin wrote the Daily Journal in an email.

The downtown plan limits office use to 500,000 square feet and so far about 200,000 square feet of offices have been approved for the area.

Redwood City has become desirable to build in as eight new development proposals have been submitted to planners in recent weeks.

They include 229 units of housing in two projects and 540,000 square feet of offices in six projects. Some of these developments fall just outside of the Downtown Precise Plan area, however.

Earlier this month, the Planning Commission was considering a resolution that would have increased the amount of office space from 500,000 square feet allowed in the Downtown Precise Plan to 630,000 square feet and decrease the number of housing units approved in the plan from 2,500 to 2,100.

That resolution was withdrawn by planners, however, before the Planning Commission had a chance to consider it.

With office uses limited downtown, other projects in the planning pipeline may be approved before Lane brings back a new proposal.

The hard cap on offices may mean Lane will have to consider housing with a mix of retail at the Powerhouse Gym site if it wants to redevelop the property.

The city expects that developers will build all the allowable office spaces approved in the plan by the end of this year while applications for housing and retail are not nearing the limits approved in the Downtown Precise Plan, which the City Council adopted in 2011.

bill@smdailyjournal.com

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