Having been away for the Thanksgiving holiday, when I took my walk this week I tried check in on all of the usual suspects, and indeed got to most of them. So this week I’m mostly just presenting a status update on a number of projects that have been in the works for a while now. But before I get to those, on my way down to check in on the Stanford Health Care project I saw a crane and a nearly assembled metal structure sticking up from a place I had not been monitoring:

I took this photo from the corner of Woodside and Bay roads (across Bay from the CVS); the building being worked on is actually on Spring Street, across from Hoover Park. From the park, the project looks like this:

As best as I can tell, this is an expansion of the Hyperion climbing gym, which you access from the building’s Willow Street side. It makes sense that they’d want to add a taller section to the old single-story building that they moved into.

After trying to capture the above project from a variety of angles, I then made my way down Broadway to where Stanford Health Care’s new nine-story medical office building is now just about completely framed up. I was particularly interested in the three rectangular “towers” that have appeared on the front of the nine-story portion of the building (out closer to the street, the building drops down to three stories):

For reference, here is a rendering of what the building (and its associated new parking garage, back towards Highway 101) should ultimately look like:

What look a bit like towers (they extend about six feet above the main part of the building) contain, as you might guess, elevator shafts and stairwells (plus, in the center one restrooms). The left-hand one contains two service elevators, one of which appears to open out onto the building’s roof. The center “tower” contains three passenger elevators and some restrooms, while the right-hand one contains two more passenger elevators plus a stairwell. That stairwell also opens out onto the roof. As for the roof itself, it does not appear to include a private deck for the building’s occupants, but of course contains the usual HVAC equipment and, as you can see from the rendering, what appear to be some solar panels. I presume that those panels are the reason for the white framing at the rooftop level you can see in the earlier photo; they will sit atop that framing.

Out by the bay, the Syufy Site project — the residential and sports club project underway where the Century Park 12 Theatres once stood — continues to make great progress. The garage is continuing to rise, with the third level being pretty much done and the structural elements of the fourth underway (recall that this will be a five-level garage). As well, framing is well underway for the ground-floor apartments on the side facing the bay:

Apartments will ultimately wrap the parking garage on three sides, hiding it from view. Most of the apartments will be on the bay side of the building, but there will also be apartments on the freeway side and the southeastern side (note that the above picture was taken from out on Bair Island looking back towards the south; the side of the building closest to the right edge of the photo is facing roughly northwest). The apartments won’t just closely wrap the garage: there will also be two “arms” sticking out towards the bay, as you can see from this plan view, showing the building’s second floor:

Here is a view of the building from along E. Bayshore Road (which runs right alongside the freeway):

Note all the work going on in the foreground; this is where the parking lot for the VillaSport Club and Spa will be located. As for the VillaSport building itself, it will be located out along E. Bayshore, up against the Boardwalk Auto dealerships:

As you can see, the site is smooth and level, just waiting for foundations.

Finally, that distant gap in the above photo, between the apartment building and the Boardwalk Auto dealership buildings, is where the second apartment building will eventually be built.

Over at the corner of Veterans Boulevard and Brewster Avenue, the four-story Hampton Inn building is receiving its windows:

Passing by the Taube Family Carriage House and Automobile Gallery, I could clearly see that the first and second story windows on the Middlefield Road side of the building are in fact large three-panel sliding doors, which will allow cars and carriages to be moved in and out:

Look closely at the second-floor windows between the Theatre District arch and the Marshall Street sign, and you should be able to see the divisions between the three sections. The same is true on the ground floor, although those doors are much harder to see in this photo. In any case, vehicles will be easy enough to get into the ground floor: they’ll be able to simply drive or roll straight in. As for the second floor, though, there appears to be no internal elevator that can accommodate vehicles (which makes sense, given the relatively small size of this museum), but those second-floor doors indicate to me that a lift mechanism (or a large forklift) will enable vehicles to be lifted to the second level doors. Presumably, the objects on the second floor (carriages, most likely) won’t be swapped out as often as those on the first. 

Moving on to 112 Vera Ave., where plans call for a seven-story, 176-unit apartment building, preparations for the building’s foundation continue:

I ended this week’s walk where I often do these days, at the Veterans Memorial Building/Senior Center project, in Red Morton Park. A lot of the building’s lights were on, allowing me to take a photo that lets you see portions of the lobby interior (right of center) and the building’s large ground-floor multipurpose room/dining room (left of center):

Unfortunately the lighting was such that reflections turned the upper story windows pretty much opaque; I’ll have to take this photo again at or right after sundown. Or, just wait until the building actually opens…

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With the holiday season almost upon us, there are a couple of events worth putting on your calendar. Tomorrow, Dec 6 from 5-8 p.m., the Red Morton Community Center (1120 Roosevelt Ave.) will play host to the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services department’s “Winter Wonderland” — “an enchanting winter evening filled with cookie decorating, bouncing on inflatables, and enjoying a cozy hot cocoa station.” Santa will be there as well, so bring your kids and your camera. Young entrepreneurs will also be selling a variety of holiday creations. This last is free, while the rest of the Winter Wonderland requires an activity band that costs $10 per child. Pay in advance or at the door.

On Sunday, December 7, from 12 – 3 p.m., the County of San Mateo is hosting the North Fair Oaks Winter Fiesta, a free family event that will feature children’s train rides, music, a petting zoo, face painting, prizes, and a visit from Santa. Look for it in the parking lot at Middlefield Road and 2nd Avenue.

San Mateo County will be having its first-ever Holiday Tree Lighting at 500 County Center from 4 – 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 11. At the event, the Service League will be collecting toys as part of its annual toy drive for children in need, so if you can, bring an unwrapped toy. If you want to support the Service League’s efforts but can’t make the tree lighting, you can drop toys off starting now in the lobby of 500 County Center. (the new county office building on Marshall Street across from the Lathrop House and the new Carriage House/Automobile Gallery. It sounds like the county would appreciate an RSVP for the tree lighting: (650) 363-4572 / mrichardson@smcgov.org

Saturday, December 13, from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Hometown Holidays is returning to downtown Redwood City.

Look for fresh festival areas, more food and craft options, and an upgraded Santa’s Village hosted by the Redwood City Parks & Arts Foundation filled with storytime, cookie decorating, letters to the North Pole, hot cider and plenty of cozy winter feels. We’ll have live performances, a holiday music + community singalong with Sound Union, carnival rides, and a parade that’s stepping things up with bigger features and due to those, a new route. The Caltrain Holiday Train will roll through as part of the fun (though it’s already full for riders this year). And we’ll top it all off with our traditional tree-lighting.

From December 15-19, the Redwood City Public Library’s storytimes will feature books about holiday celebrations from around the world.