To build, or not to build?

The AAC’s main issues with the affordable housing component — which would not be built downtown, but instead would be constructed at 847 Woodside Road, the site of a former mortuary now being used as a church — were the shadows the new five-story building would cast on nearby properties (primarily, I assume, on the houses behind the project site, and on the apartments on either side), as well as the project’s density and relative lack of parking (based on the number and sizes of the apartments, the building should have 112 vehicular parking spaces, but the plan only shows 50, plus room for 90 bicycles).

The developer’s justification for the apartment development’s high density and relatively few parking spaces is apparently due to its proximity to transit (buses run up and down Woodside Road) and to shops and restaurants. But the article quotes the AAC chair as saying that the site is not pedestrian friendly, is not bicycle friendly, and only has limited public transportation nearby.

A single bus line (actually there are two, but one goes only to Selby Lane School) might sound limited, but the one along Woodside Road is quite useful. SamTrans route 278 runs between Cañada College and the Redwood City Transit Center, with buses running every 30 minutes during commute times and hourly otherwise, up to 10:20 p.m. As for the site not being bicycle friendly, I can’t argue with that. Unless protected bike lanes are constructed along Woodside Road, I wouldn’t recommend that anyone ride along that busy street. But I do take exception with the idea that the site is not pedestrian friendly. I walk along Woodside Road quite often, and the sidewalks are good, there are restaurants and stores quite close by (Safeway is almost directly across the street from the project site), and the lovely Palm Park is about six blocks away. I know how I’d vote, however, whether the site is pedestrian and transit friendly enough to justify the project’s high density and reduced parking is something the City Council will have to decide.

I’d love to see more buses running up and down Woodside Road, but that can be said about many parts of Redwood City (for years after my wife and I bought our house, buses ran up and down our street — but no longer). I get the justification for not running many buses in low-density areas consisting primarily of single-family homes, but a street like Woodside Road, with its many multifamily housing buildings and its many shops and restaurants, seems ideal for frequent bus service. The addition of even more high-density housing, like the development proposed for 847 Woodside Road, provides even more justification for an increase in bus service. That same justification could also be applied to bike lanes along Woodside Road but, given the costs and logistics of constructing those, I’m not holding my breath.

This new apartment building won’t be built unless the downtown office component is, and some are quick to point out that more office space is unnecessary, given the recent shift away from office work. For some companies, at least, the shift is reversing. Too many companies never made the shift in the first place because the type of work they do really does require many of their employees to be in the office. In any case, at a January open house for the project I learned that Lane Partners, the project’s developer, won’t build it until it has either pre-leased the office space or are at least confident it will be able to lease it.

It’d take years to draw up final plans, obtain building permits, and actually erect these buildings, even if the project was approved today (which it isn’t, of course; it isn’t even on the City Council’s schedule). Thus, it’d be years before these buildings would open their doors to new tenants. And the working world then could look quite different from how it looks today. Lane Partners’ challenge is predicting that future world and its future demands (or not) for office space. Given the many millions this project would cost, it surely won’t go ahead unless Lane Partners is very confident indeed.

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.