From time to time I receive emails from developers regarding prospective Redwood City development projects (usually, because I’ve signed up to receive them as a way to keep tabs on a given project’s progress). Just today I received one such email regarding the Broadway At Main project (aka 1900 Broadway): the seven-story office-and-retail project (with an associated affordable housing project to be located at 847 Woodside Rd.) planned for the former Wells Fargo Bank site at the corner of, naturally, Broadway and Main Street in Redwood City. The email was letting me know that this project will be going before the Redwood City Planning Commission on Tuesday, September 3, at 6 p.m., and seeking persons willing to speak about the project (presumably, in favor) at that hearing and/or willing to send an email to the Planning Commission.

Because I aim to simply present the facts about projects like these without much comment in this blog — I think people should form their own opinions without being swayed by my own — I won’t be speaking at the meeting and won’t be submitting an email to the Commission. However, I will be watching the proceedings closely, and I highly suggest that any of you who are interested in this particular project do the same. And if you want to speak and/or send an email to the Planning Commission with your thoughts, head over to the developer’s web page for the project to learn more and to see how you can participate.

Because I haven’t written about this project in quite a while, and because it has changed somewhat since it was formally submitted to the city back in October of 2021, allow me to provide a brief description. First off, it would mainly be located, as I noted, on the parcel where the now-closed (ever since they moved down Broadway to Jefferson Avenue) Wells Fargo Bank building is located. This building:

However, thanks to the Spring Street connector between Marshall Street and Broadway, the oddly shaped parcel upon which this bank building sits is not of a size to support a project of the scope that Lane Partners, the developer, wants to build. Thus, they hope to purchase the small triangular parklet that sits just across Spring Street and then abandon the section of Spring Street in between. This would provide them with a clean, rectangular parcel that is bounded by Broadway, Main Street, Marshall Street, and Walnut Street:

On the combined block, Lane Partners would build a seven-story building containing 238,300 square feet of office space, 10,000 square feet of retail space (divided into at least two parts, with one retail space fronting onto Main Street and another, divisible space, looking out over Broadway). There would also be a “community art room” and, perhaps most importantly for many of us, a 12,000 square foot public plaza located at the corner of Broadway and Main Street. From that intersection, the plaza, with the building behind it, would look something like this:

(These renderings are included with the preliminary plans submitted to the city.) To my eye, the above rendering doesn’t make the plaza look as big as it actually will be. This overhead rendering of the plaza area does a better job:

Note the shaded seating area and the good-sized lawn, both of which should make for a nice complement to Courthouse Square. Speaking of which, I was told that this plaza would be just about the size of Courthouse Square not including the two pavilions. So this plaza could serve as an alternative location to host concerts. I was also told that the lawn area could possibly be converted to an ice rink in the wintertime, leaving Courthouse Square free to host other winter activities.

As for parking, there would be two underground parking levels plus some amount of parking within the building on the ground floor, for a total of 518 parking stalls for cars and trucks, 20 spaces for motorcycles, plus room for 127 bicycles. 35 of the vehicular parking stalls would be kept for retail customers, and another 25 would be reserved for folks staying at the Sequoia Hotel, which is located just across the intersection from the office building (and in its revamped form would have no on-site parking of its own).

At one time the idea was for the upper floors of the office building to serve as affordable housing, but subsequent revisions have moved the proposed housing component to 847 Woodside Rd., where there is a building that at one time was a mortuary but now is being used as a church:

The intent is to have Eden Housing, a California-based builder and manager of affordable housing, construct a five-story, 86-unit affordable housing project. That project would look something like this:

Altogether this is a substantial project that would further build out downtown Redwood City and would bring valuable retail space to a prime corner of Redwood City. Plus, it would provide much-needed affordable housing. Although that housing wouldn’t be located downtown, it would nevertheless be located in a part of town that has a number of amenities of its own. And it would be located very close to a bus stop for a line that runs to Redwood City’s transit center, which itself is located on the edge of downtown.

Redwood City’s Architectural Advisory Committee gave their approval to the downtown building, but had a few issues with the affordable housing part of the project. Thus it’ll be interesting to hear what the Planning Commission has to say when they consider this project at their September 3 meeting. Interested persons can either attend the meeting in person — the Planning Commission meets in the Redwood City Council Chambers on the ground floor of City Hall, at 1017 Middlefield Rd. — or can watch the proceedings via Zoom (Meeting ID: 930 4536 6921). Note that anyone wanting to comment on the project during the meeting must, I believe, be there in person; Zoom attendees will not be able to provide oral comments. However, anyone can submit comments ahead of time via email, by sending them to planning@redwoodcity.org.

The Yard coffeehouse continues to add amenities: they’ve opened the doors on The Offerman House, so now there is indoor seating in addition to the outdoor seating in the yard. Plus, they’ve expanded their hours: on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they are now open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Monday through Thursday they still close at 2:30 p.m.). And they’ve added a Cornhole set, so patrons can play in addition to sitting and enjoying coffee, tea, or whatever…

Redwood City has relaunched its Explore Redwood City as a web app, and it has updated information on all of the public art located around the city, in addition to a couple of self-guided history tours. To explore the city’s rich collection of public art as well as its fascinating history, head downtown and then point your browser to https://exploreredwood.stqry.app/1. Personally, I find it a great way to ferret out some of the harder-to-find but nevertheless fascinating works of art that are located throughout Redwood City, while at the same time getting a bit of exercise. Do check it out!

From time-to-time I mention that my wife and I regularly drive for Meals on Wheels. Our local chapter is looking for additional drivers, so if you have a couple of hours to spare each week and are willing to help out some of our area’s more vulnerable residents, please contact Idrina Sims at Peninsula Volunteers (email isims@1pvi.org). My wife and I find it easy, fun, and very rewarding.

I should note that although we are assigned to a regular weekly route, requesting time off due to a trip or vacation is simple to do. Just as easy is to sign up for additional days, which we occasionally do to make up for having missed some (that’s our choice; you aren’t obligated to do make-up days). And I believe you don’t even need to have a regular route, but can simply be on the list as a substitute driver. So there should be enough flexibility for almost anyone. Finally, although most drivers do their routes solo, I find that driving with a partner (my wife, in my case) makes the drive easier and more fun.

Please do consider signing up. Meals on Wheels is a terrific organization that provides an extremely valuable service, and they deserve our support.