Six-story office building approved in Redwood City

Located just south of downtown near Kaiser, the new 65,000-square-foot building includes one level of underground parking with a mechanical lift and two levels of above-ground parking designed in such a way that it will appear to be just one story.     The proposal falls within the Downtown Medical Campus Precise Plan, which requires five parking spaces per 1,000 square feet, but the commission allowed an exception for this building so it will have 2.04 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet for a total of 132 spaces.

All of those parking stalls will be available to the public in perpetuity and for free on nights and weekends, resulting in a credit of 264 parking spaces, which is the practice for developments in nearby downtown. That still brings the project to a 61-stall deficit, and developer Windy Hill will pay $25,000 for each of those stalls for a total of $1.5 million that will go into the city’s downtown parking management fund.     

There will be valet service for the mechanical lift parking spaces open until about 11 p.m. every day, said Mike Field, commercial director for Windy Hill. 

Windy Hill is also required to implement a transportation demand management plan to attain a single-occupancy vehicle trip mode share of 33 percent, according to a staff report.

Parking will be accessed via Bradford Street and the building will also have 28 stalls for bikes, eight electric vehicle-charging spaces and additional stalls for motorcycles and low emission vehicles.   

The commission also granted deviations for side and rear setbacks and height, though the 80-foot building is still 8 feet shorter than an adjacent apartment building. Commissioners were happy to see a taller building on the property to cover up the blank walls of that apartment building.

I agree the setbacks are not necessary so hide that wall, go for it,” said Commissioner Nancy Radcliffe. “I have no issue with the height of this building, it fits in nicely, much nicer than what’s already there.”  

The bike repair shop, which Field described as a “bike spa,” will be located at the corner of the building at Walnut and Bradford streets and it will be open to the public for minor repairs. 

Commissioner Rick Hunter expressed interest in ground floor retail space in the development, but Radcliffe and Field said retail is simply not feasible at that location.

“Retail is not viable here and if you look at the corner opposite us they’ve had retail vacancy for three years and if you talk to the developer, they’ve had zero interest in the retail space,” Field said.

As for streetscape upgrades, five new street trees and landscape planters with benches will be installed along Bradford Street. Windy Hill will also landscape the area, construct a new corner bulbout, replace the sidewalk along the property frontages and install new streetlights, according to the report.

Field said the benches will be comfortable to sit on, but not comfortable enough for people to sleep on. 

Mobile app developer Yummly and a couple doctors currently list 610 Walnut St. as their address. Before the current tenants moved in, the building was long home to medical office uses supporting the nearby Kaiser, according to the applicant.

“The place and design of this project are good and this is exactly where a project like this needs to go,” said Commissioner Michael Smith. “I also think it’s an improvement to the general neighborhood feel of that area so I think it’s a net positive from that perspective.” 

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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