2024 in review

On a smaller scale, the townhomes at 31 Center St. are done — but not yet for sale, it seems — and the ones at 955 Woodside Road are nearly there. Throughout the city, a large number of single-family homes and duplexes were either completed or began construction. Rise City Church’s new sanctuary was swiftly framed, and the hotel project underway at Veterans Boulevard and Brewster Avenue completed its first-floor structure. The Taube Family Carriage House and Automobile Gallery appears fully framed on Marshall Street behind the historic courthouse, and the new office building at 200 Twin Dolphin Drive is about done.

Several interesting — albeit controversial — new development projects were proposed throughout 2024, including a seven-story, fully affordable housing project for 112 Vera Ave. and an extremely tall (up to 30 stories) 313-unit senior residential care facility to be built near Kaiser’s medical campus. Late in the year, the city received a proposal for a 105-unit townhouse project to replace part of the shopping center where Kohl’s is located, plus another for a 32-unit condominium development at 1320 Marshall St.

Redwood City’s famed restaurant scene saw plenty of activity during the year. In no particular order, Bloomsgiving opened in the old Joe & the Juice space, while just around the corner, Café La Tartine closed and was replaced by Dasbierhauz, a German beer garden. Close by, Limón — Redwood City’s newest Peruvian restaurant — began serving customers. Hikari Sushi (on Whipple Avenue) was replaced by Burma Spice. Mazra opened on Broadway, only to experience a bad kitchen fire (they reopened months later). Close by on Broadway, Pizzeria Cardamomo and Bao Dumpling opened. The Baker Next Door, The Yard Coffeehouse and Cravingz all opened on Main Street, while Maizz finally opened at El Camino Real and Winklebleck Street. Varam Premium Indian Cuisine opened in the Dragon Theatre space, and Baires Argentinian Bakery opened where Brick Monkey once operated.

Also along Broadway, 2024 saw the opening of Nomadic Kitchen (a Turkish restaurant) and Nagai Edomae Sushi. Chick-fil-A (on Whipple Avenue) closed for a time to extend its drive-thru, and the new McDonald’s restaurant on Woodside Road finally opened just before the end of the year. Finally, Ocean Oyster Bar & Grill’s Redwood City location is nearly complete. Oh, and Applebee’s closed.

On the retail scene, Redwood City’s fifth cannabis retailer, Flor Peninsula, opened its doors on El Camino, and work began to refit a space for a sixth on Woodside Road. CVS moved into its new Bay Road location, Ralph’s Vacuum and Sewing relocated from the Hotel Sequoia building to El Camino Real, and Undisputed Boxing Gym moved to the end of Theatre Way. Flames Smoke Shop opened at El Camino and Whipple Avenue, while Campbell Men’s Barbershop took over the former Kristie Marie’s space at Marshall Street and the Caltrain tracks.

AutoZone began prepping its future home (the old Bed, Bath & Beyond space) but has yet to move. Madison Ave, the Theatre Way clothing retailer, closed its doors — but remains online. And at long last, Sequoia Station is being refreshed, with its various buildings being repainted.

Caltrans began its Woodside Road reconstruction project, El Camino Real gained a short bike lane (from Maple Street to Jefferson Avenue on the north side), and the sidewalk along the Maple Street freeway overpass was rebuilt. Redwood City did a “quick build” of its Roosevelt Avenue traffic-calming project. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office completed its new headquarters in the downtown jail building, and the Social Security Administration moved its Redwood City offices to a remodeled building on Broadway.

There’s more, but you get the idea. With a couple of proposed projects having been approved by the city in 2024, looking forward, we can not only expect the in-progress projects to continue — we’ll likely see a few others get underway. As always, it seems that change is a constant in Redwood City.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.