Fine-tuning

This project has been in the works for years, with a number of years still to go. So far, the developer has put those years to good use, gathering feedback from city leaders and the community and adjusting the project’s design to better reflect that feedback. But that stage of the process, at least, may be nearing its end. A few weeks ago, the project’s developer submitted an updated project proposal to Redwood City. It shows few significant changes when compared with the previous one. Instead, the proposal shows evidence of fine-tuning, indicating to me that it is ready for its spotlight.

Although the styles and the shapes of the various buildings appear to have been changed, their sizes remain pretty much as they were. Their ground floors are still primarily made up of retail spaces, at least where they face onto streets or plazas. Safeway and CVS remain as the two anchor tenants. And the number of apartments and amount of office square footage are pretty much unchanged. What really has changed is the proposal document. The new version not only clarifies a number of points, it does a much better job of showing what the site would look like once completed.

Previously, the document contained illustrations that were somewhat vague, with renderings apparently done in watercolors. While beautiful, those renderings gave little more than a general idea of what the various buildings and public outdoor spaces might be like. In contrast, the latest version contains renderings that are far more detailed and realistic, thereby going much farther toward helping us imagine what it would be like to patronize the development’s many retailers and restaurants.

Given the development’s large amount of office space — more than 1.2 million square feet — the proposal continues to place a great deal of emphasis on the project’s two apartment buildings. One of them would be fully affordable at a variety of income levels, while the other would mostly consist of market-rate units — although 20 of that building’s apartments would be subsidized for those earning at the moderate-income level. Together the two buildings would contain some 631 for-rent apartments, with 254 (40%) of them being below-market rate. To accommodate families, nearly 160 of the apartments would have either two or three bedrooms.

The amount of public open space in the project has dropped from around 53,000 square feet to just more than 40,000. However, the project now includes five “startup business, retail incubator spaces.” As for the promised child care center, that appears largely unchanged.

One key driver for the transformation of Sequoia Station is Caltrain’s planned elevation and expansion of its tracks in the area immediately behind the center. Along with that, Caltrain also hopes to build a new Redwood City station. Although Caltrain’s is an entirely separate project, Sequoia Station’s new incarnation does take that future expansion into account. Not only do the newest proposal’s renderings show the updated track configuration, one image also shows a possible new Caltrain station. Being keenly interested in Caltrain’s plans, I’m fascinated by the station in that rendering, its location and design are like nothing I’ve seen before. Although the fate of Caltrain’s project depends upon a revamped Sequoia Station, the two projects are being developed independently. So the Sequoia Station project renderings likely don’t reflect the reality of what Caltrain will eventually do, and may just be speculation on someone’s part.

Given its most recent draft, the Sequoia Station project proposal seems to have been fine-tuned so as to present the project in its best light, and thereby (the developer hopes) win city approval. Deliberations on that design — which will include plenty of opportunities for public comment — will likely begin soon. As someone who’s been watching the site for more than 30 years, I’m looking forward to those deliberations, and to watching the city decide if this project makes sense for today’s 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.