When I took my walk this week — on Monday, knowing that although it would be hot, the rest of the week would be even hotter — I went by Limón, the Peruvian restaurant that has been under construction in the old Arya Steakhouse spot at the end of Theatre Way. I saw people inside and thought it might be actually be open, but then noticed signs taped to the doors indicating that staff training was in progress. But I just checked its website, and it is indeed now open for business, from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). So for those interested in trying somewhere new, do check it out! Limón is “fully open for indoor dining, takeout, and delivery,” and they take reservations.

Earlier today my wife and I were at Mademoiselle Colette getting something for breakfast prior to doing our weekly Meals on Wheels run, and I noticed that the windows are no longer papered over on the upcoming Baires Bakery & Cafe (directly across Broadway from Mademoiselle Colette, on the corner of Broadway and Winslow Street). Naturally I had to cross over and peek inside:

The place looked ready to open its doors, except for the fact that the display cases had no food in them (there are what appear to be wooden trays, but they were empty). I take this as a sign that this new Argentinian bakery will be opening any day now. So keep an eye on it, and pay it a visit when you see signs of life inside.

Sixteen years after its doors were closed for good, the Century Park 12 Theatres building, on E. Bayshore Road across Highway 101 from most of Redwood City, is finally coming down. Although I’m still unclear on why two separate permits were needed (one for the majority of the parking lot, granted weeks ago; and one for the building itself plus the portion of the parking lot closest to the building), the second permit was finally granted early last month, and now demolition of the building is well underway:

I took the above picture after work had stopped for the day on Friday. On Monday I hope to head over there again and watch some of the action.

While photographing the theater building, I noticed that the building directly across the freeway, which most recently was home to Undisputed Boxing Gym (now located just across the street at 335 Convention Way) is now a servicer of modern and classic exotic cars. Taormina Motorsports, on 380 Convention Way in Redwood City, has some very fancy (read: expensive) sports cars in its windows (I think I see two red Ferraris):

I do wish this was a business that I might actually patronize — I love cars — but I don’t own the class of car that they seem to work on. If you do, though, you might want to check it out.

On Monday my wife needed to head down to Sigona’s Farmer’s Market, so I took advantage of the fact that she was going to be most of the way towards one of the places I wanted to walk to this week, and hitched a ride. From the produce market it was a relatively short walk down Middlefield Road to 2700 Middlefield Rd., the site of Middlefield Junction, the Mercy Housing’s 179-unit affordable housing project that four months ago experienced a massive fire. I previously visited the site shortly after the fire took place to see what was left, and was pleased to note that although one of the buildings was almost completely destroyed, the other one was seemingly unscathed. Given that it has been four months since the fire occurred, I wanted to see if the project was once again making forward progress.

As I made my way behind the Fair Oaks Health Center (this housing project is being constructed directly behind that health center), I could see that progress indeed continues to be made on Building A, the building that survived the fire:

As for Building B, it is harder to say since a view of that building is almost entirely blocked by Building A. However, from what I could tell, not only has all of the debris from the fire been taken away, it appears that work is being done to ensure that the “podium” — the concrete first story upon which the apartment units will be built (using wood framing) — is okay and able to safely support the five floors of housing that will once again stand on top. Given that Building B has the majority of the project’s apartments (104 of them; Building A has the remaining 75 units plus a childcare center and a community center), Building B is vital to the success of this project. Thankfully although it’ll take longer than previously thought, it does appear that the community will indeed gain this much-needed affordable housing.

After paying a visit to Middlefield Junction, I came back up Middlefield Road into Redwood City and made my way over to Bay Road between Woodside Road and Chestnut Street to check on the progress of the Broadway Plaza project. I was pleased to see that the third of the three apartment buildings is now getting framed up (also on top of a concrete podium level that, here, primarily consists of an internal parking garage and the building’s lobby):

This third building is in the foreground of the above picture; the taller building behind it with the yellow insulating panels is a separate building. That other is the farthest along of the three, and appears to be completely framed:

Finally, the largest of the three — and the one that stretches out along Broadway — is humming along nicely, but still has a way to go:

Ultimately, the building above will be six stories tall, including its own concrete podium level — which will contain both retail spaces and a childcare center.

From Broadway Plaza I took a relatively short walk up Chestnut Street to Main Street, where of course the massive ELCO Yards project continues to make great progress. The first building I came to — “Building E, South” — is located along Chestnut Street close to Main Street. As you can see, it is quite far along now:

This building doesn’t sit right at the corner: that corner will soon house a small restaurant and an outdoor public plaza. Both will be located in the undeveloped triangular-shaped portion of the parcel you can see in this photo:

Down Main Street, “Building E, North” is also making excellent progress. As you can see, the north building has a very different style than its sister (both stand atop a single large subterranean parking garage, thus the reason for calling them both Building E, even though they look nothing like each other):

The north building is still receiving its glass cladding; in the above photo you can see that the topmost floor has yet to receive its glazing. But while I was there I stood for a while and watched a large multi-panel section of glazing being hoisted into the air and affixed to the building, here along the building’s side between the two sister buildings, where the entrance to the shared parking garage will be located:

It was a fascinating process. Attached to the end of the crane’s cable was a yellow X-shaped tool that had four large suction cups, one on each tip of the X. The glass was carefully cleaned, after which the suction cups were used to secure the yellow X to the five panes of framed glass. Then the whole assembly was hoisted into place, and a couple of workers inside the building grabbed it and neatly hooked the framed windows onto some metal brackets that had previously been secured to the building’s concrete structure. Finally, the suction cups were detached from the glass — by the crane operator, possibly, or by one of the workers on the ground or in the building via remote control — and the yellow X was lowered back to the ground to pick up the next set of windows.

I’d never seen this done before, and was impressed by the tools and technology that was being used to assemble a building that is almost entirely clad in glass.

Along Cedar Street, Building C — the last of the four office buildings to have gotten underway — looks like this these days:

Finally, I came to Building B, which stands at the corner of Cedar Street and El Camino Real:

This building will have office space on the upper floors, but on the ground floor it will have a 16,790-square-foot “family friendly retail” space and a childcare center plus yet more office space. In the above photo, the retail space will be on the ground floor of the left-hand wing of the building (which will mostly front onto El Camino Real; this view, though, is from Cedar Street). That retail space is wide open with no supporting pillars to break up the space, making it ideal for use as a roller rink or bowling alley. As for the childcare center, it will be located on the ground floor of the right-hand wing, with the open space between it and the street being fenced off and serving as a play yard for the children in the childcare center. The following photo shows the portion of the property that will make up that play yard:

I’ve mentioned before that Beech Street, which connects Main Street and El Camino Real and runs behind this building, has been altered so that it now lines up with Lincoln Street on the other side of El Camino Real. Here is a picture over the construction fencing showing the modified portion of Beech Street:

As for the backside of Building B, well, like many of the buildings in this project it looks very different than the views from either El Camino Real or Cedar Street:

ELCO Yards is truly a fascinating project. I’m looking forward to seeing this phase of the project completed, and turning my attention to the final two buildings that have yet to be started: Buildings A and D, which will be residential buildings located along Maple and Elm streets, respectively. I’m also looking forward to seeing just what kind of “family friendly retail” we get in that ground-floor space within Building B.

That pretty much did it for my walk this week. Next week, I’m hoping to watch some of the demolition on the Century 12 Theatres building, and then I’ll likely walk up Woodside Road to check on the handful of active projects underway along that street. In the mean time, I’ll be trying to keep cool along with everyone else. Thankfully, after this weekend it looks like the heat will slowly depart, bringing our daytime temperatures back into the upper 70’s.

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Looking to get outdoors, and yet beat the heat? If you are reading this on Friday (the 4th) or early on Saturday, Redwood City PortFest will be taking place out at the Port of Redwood City from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. I’m hoping that the waters of the port will help cool things down a bit, but in any case the real heat isn’t supposed to arrive until the afternoon. This family-friendly waterfront festival will include “live music, children’s recreational activities, food trucks, vendor booths and a day of fun overlooking the San Francisco Bay.” What’s not to love? Check out the PortFest web page for a full list of all the event’s activities (many of which are free). Then put on some sunscreen, bundle the kids into the car, and head out to 475 Seaport Ct. As always, it should be a great time.