Walking around town this week, I was positively thrilled to see that Mazra, the Mediterranean restaurant on Broadway that experienced a kitchen fire just 2-1/2 months after opening, is back open for business. The fire occurred on June 18, and at the time the owners had hoped that the recovery process (which apparently involved not so much dealing with fire damage as dealing with the damage that resulted from putting out the fire) would take four to six weeks. In reality it took more like twelve, but regardless they’re back open and once again doing what appears to be a healthy business:

You’ll find Mazra at 2021 Broadway, in the middle of the section closed to vehicles. They’re open every day except Mondays, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Nearby, I continue to be somewhat amazed at the progress that the Taube Family Carriage House and Automobile Gallery is making. Presumably the fact that the entire structure is made from steel — which enables the interior space to be almost completely wide open, something that is very much necessary for a place like this — has a lot to do with it, since the prefabricated beams are simply trucked to the site and bolted and welded together. In any case, the basic structure appears to be pretty much in place now:

Of course, the building still has a long way to go. The exterior surfaces will take a while to apply, for one. But we can now get a good idea of just how this building will feel amidst its neighbors (in particular, the historic courthouse that serves as the county’s history museum, and the Lathrop House that stands alongside the new museum building). This new building has been squeezed onto a rather small lot that used to be a small surface parking lot, and the architects made sure to use every available inch. If you stand on Middlefield Road (Theatre Way) and look towards the rear of the old courthouse, you can see just how tightly this new museum fits up against the back of the courthouse:

I’ll be curious to see just how big the interior spaces seem to be once the new museum is open. From the street they look quite small at the moment, but I’ve lived through a number of remodeling and construction projects and I’ve experienced how one’s perception of a space can change throughout the construction process. In reality I’m sure there’ll be plenty of room for the historic carriages and antique cars that will one day occupy this multi-level building.

This week I walked through Red Morton Park to check on the progress of the new Veterans Memorial Building/Senior Center (VMSC), and as I suspected there is little news to report — although I did see active work going on, particularly around the new surface parking lot that will be located roughly where the old swimming pool used to be. Although this project is moving along at a disappointing pace, I was pleased to see a sign on the old (existing) VMSC indicating that it will indeed be the site of Redwood City’s new YMCA — someday.

The YMCA project isn’t scheduled to begin until the new VMSC is completed and all of the activities that take place in the old one have moved over, which means that demolition of the old VMSC likely won’t take place until 2025 (or even 2026) at the earliest.

Speaking of interesting signs, while walking down Woodside Road to check on a handful of projects that are in various stages of completion along that street, I found this one to be interesting:

This sign is hanging on the relatively new condominium development at 910 Woodside Road. This place:

This 10-unit condominium building was finished about 18 months ago, and the units quickly went on sale. What strikes me as interesting is that this new sign is indicating that one or more of the large units (each are three stories tall, with a garage and some amount of living space on the ground floor, and they range in size from 1,700 – 2,040 square feet) is now for rent. Oddly, the URL listed at the bottom of the sign doesn’t seem to work (at least, it didn’t when I tried it) but I managed to track down a listing for a unit in the building, and it is quite something. Follow that link if you want to see some interior photos of the 2,005-square-foot 3 bedroom townhouse on offer. As for pricing, try $6,825 per month, with lease terms ranging from three months to two years. It seems that either someone purchased this unit and then put it on the rental market, or the company that built this place is having trouble selling some of the units and has decided to lease them until market conditions improve. Whichever it is, I have to wonder how quickly (or not) this unit will get leased.

Last week I mentioned that I’d soon discuss the 30-story project proposed for 910 Marshall St., and in preparation this week I went by the site and took some more “before” photos of what is there today. I’ve written about this project before, in my post Getting High on March 29. But that was based on a preliminary filing with the city. Recently, the developer made a more formal filing that includes a much more complete set of plans, plus several renderings that show the project from various angles. And this newest design has changed somewhat from that preliminary one. For one thing, it has gotten even taller, having gained two stories. For another, it has fewer residential units than before (313 in the current design, vs. 378 in the preliminary plan).

Based on the latest public plans, the project would sit on a combined three lots that occupy the lion’s share of the block bounded by Marshall, Maple, Spring, and Walnut Streets (and a bit of Broadway). Here is a map showing the immediate area, with the portion of the block that would be consumed by this project outlined by a red dashed line:

Today there are three buildings on the site. At 910 Marshall St. Kaiser Permanente has its one-story “Birch Building”:

To the left of that, along Marshall Street, is another one-story building housing a dialysis clinic:

Finally, behind the dialysis clinic — and thus fronting onto Broadway — is a small one-story building with a handful of commercial tenants:

In this last image, note the Kaiser Permanente buildings in the background; Kaiser’s Redwood City campus is just across Marshall Street from this project’s site. And note the small green triangle on the map just to the left of the site; that is the small parklet that the developers of the separate 1900 Broadway project want to combine with their main site just across Spring Street to form the parcel for their seven-story office/retail project (which, incidentally, is going before the Redwood City Planning Commission next Tuesday, September 17, at 6 p.m.). Finally, note that a corner of the property — where Marshall and Maple streets intersect — is not part of the project. Today there is a two story office building on that corner that would remain.

Assuming both projects — 910 Marshall St. and 1900 Broadway — are built, this new one would literally tower over the seven-story 1900 Broadway project. At its highest point — the top of the mechanical screen on top of the building — 1900 Broadway would be 102 feet tall. As for the newly proposed 910 Marshall St. project, the top of its mechanical screen would be a whopping 335 feet above ground level. The building would in fact tower over every other building in Redwood City. Currently, I believe the Indigo Apartments building — the large blue-and-white building occupying most of the block at 525 Middlefield Rd. — has the record, at 114 feet. In any case, what is being proposed is well beyond what the Redwood City Downtown Precise Plan allows for the three parcels: 8 stories, or 92 feet.

Curious as to what this new building may look like? Thankfully, the preliminary plans have a number of renderings, including one that presents an arial view of the project and its surroundings:

(This rendering assumes that 1900 Broadway has also been built; it is the white blocky structure in the lower left corner.)

As for what it’d look like while driving towards downtown along Broadway, here you go:

As you can see from these renderings, the project would consist of two separate buildings separated by an open, tree-lined walkway. The smaller of the two would be ten stories high, while the larger would rise to twelve stories before its tower shoots up to level 30. The plans show three 3-bedroom apartments on that 30th floor, along with an enclosed “sky lounge” and an outdoor deck that presumably would be open to all residents of both buildings. I must say, the view from up there would be amazing…

All of the development’s parking would be in a 151-space two-level garage in the base of the larger building, with entry and exit on Marshall Street. That parking would all be above ground level; no subterranean garages here. As for retail, it would be located in a single 2,000-square-foot space at the corner of Marshall and Walnut streets.

This new project is intended to be a mix of retail and housing, with the housing being independent and assisted living units (including memory care) exclusively for seniors. We certainly could use more senior housing, and depending upon the pricing (apparently, none of the units would be made affordable for low-income seniors) it could certainly be popular. It does seem to be a good location, given the many places that are only a short walk away and with Kaiser’s medical campus directly across the street. As for the the mix of units, that looks good: 74% of the 313 apartments are two-bedroom units (232 of them), with another 45 being one-bedroom units, 19 being studios, and 17 of them having three full bedrooms. On average, the units would be 1,434 square feet in size.

Except for the height, there is a lot to like about this project. But given that what is being proposed is more than three times the height of what is currently allowed by the Downtown Precise Plan and the area’s zoning, I expect there to be some significant pushback to this project. I’ll be very interested to see what the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will say about it, and if and when it goes to the City Council for consideration, you can bet I’ll be watching with great interest. But that’ll be a year or two from today, at least, so we all have time to consider the implications and decide how we feel about this project. Incidentally, the developer has created a website for the project, at https://910marshall.com. There isn’t a great deal of information on that site as yet, but perhaps more will be added as time goes by.

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On the subject of time going by, believe it or not, Halloween is fast approaching. Redwood City will of course once again be holding its annual “Haunt Your Home” Halloween home decorating contest, so those interested in entering their homes should head over to https://www.redwoodcity.org/hauntyourhome on or after October 4. The entry deadline is October 18 (judging will take place on the 22nd and 23rd) so don’t wait too long.

(I ran across this guy just this week; someone’s making good use of their Halloween decorations… Go Sequoia!)

Whether or not you want to enter your home into the contest, if you have children between the ages of 1 and 10 (at least 1 year old, but less than 10) put October 19, from noon to 3 p.m., on your calendar. That is when Redwood City will be holding its annual Halloween Spooktacular at the Red Morton Community Center (1120 Roosevelt Ave.). Tickets cost $10 per child (online or at the door; parents or guardians accompanying a child are free). The event features “carnival games, monster maze, creepy crafts, spooky photo back drops, mini pumpkin patch, prizes & fun!”.

Finally, the day after Halloween the Zoppé Italian Family Circus will be raising their tent flaps yet again on a series of matinee and evening shows at the parking lot next to the main library in downtown Redwood City. Having attended in past years, I can attest to this being a truly wonderful show, and well worth the reasonable cost (tickets are not yet available, but should be soon). Whether or not you have children, I highly recommend attending one of their many Redwood City performances.