Living the high life

The project I’m referring to — 910 Marshall St. — is a slimmed-down version of one first proposed in March 2024. In its current form, the project would consist of a single 21-story (258-foot) tower containing 222 apartments (188 independent living, 19 assisted living and 15 memory care — all market rate). Given that the unit sizes vary from studios up to three-bedrooms, if one momentarily ignores the building’s height — something that is admittedly hard to do — the proposed project has a lot to recommend it. But that 21-story height is going to be an issue: no building in Redwood City today has more than 10 stories.

My wife and I currently own and live in a single-family home. I enjoy doing many of the home maintenance tasks that periodically need doing but can foresee a future when I’ll need to hang up my tool belt. At that point, a condo or an apartment would make more sense. We would want some elbow room, at least at first, so a three-bedroom unit (or even a two-bedroom unit with a den; the proposed development has some of those too) would appeal to us. And a building that also contains assisted living and memory care units, as this one is slated to have, would be a bonus. If one of us got to the point where we needed that level of care, they could move into one of those units with the other remaining independent and very close by.

The plans show an internal parking garage occupying portions of the building’s first two floors with space for 95 vehicles. I’ve had a car since my junior year of high school, so it’s hard to imagine living without one. And my home today is located about a mile from downtown Redwood City, making car journeys necessary for many things. Moving into downtown, within relatively easy walking distance of transit, shopping and entertainment, would significantly reduce the need for driving to the point where I could see getting by with walking, transit and ride-hailing services alone. Thus, while my instinct would be to want one of those 95 parking spaces to go with my retirement apartment, I might not actually need one.

Getting outdoors is important to me, and if at all possible I’d prefer to have some amount of private outdoor space (my wife would really want some gardening space, but in a high-rise building, that is out of the question). Unfortunately, this building appears to have very few private balconies. It does have a nice-sized landscaped terrace on the building’s third floor, a small dog park plus a shared deck on level four, and a shared terrace on the 17th floor, so there would be places I could soak up some sun and even enjoy looking at the garden. Plus, this building would be very close to the 1900 Broadway mixed-use project, which is slated to have a large open public plaza, meaning more outdoor space would be just a short walk away.

The building’s independent living units would have kitchens, of course, but the building’s third floor — which is chock-full of amenities — would include a common dining room and some number of outdoor tables for dining. Other amenities there include a bar/lounge, a small theater, a swimming pool, a fitness center, a yoga studio, a game room, a golf simulator, a salon, a library, an arts and crafts space, and a common living room. I could see myself using nearly all of those spaces — although, hopefully, I’d still be mobile enough to get out and enjoy much of what downtown Redwood City has to offer as well.

Although I question how well a 21-story building would fit into downtown Redwood City, adding as many as 300 residents to downtown would prove a boost to many of the area’s merchants. Because of that, and because I could imagine myself living there in another decade or two, I’ll be watching with interest next Monday, Sept. 8, as the Redwood City Council holds a study session on the project during its regular 6 p.m. meeting.