Once again it’s time to summarize the past year in Redwood City, based on the columns and blog posts I wrote throughout the year. Because I primarily write about things I see while out on my walks, this summary is by necessity focused on the things I observe — development projects, new and closing businesses, infrastructure projects, and the like — rather than on, say, political activities.

From my point of view, 2025 was another relatively quiet year, at least when compared with the pre-COVID years when things in Redwood City were absolutely booming. But of course there was plenty of activity: this is, after all, Redwood City…

Some of the notable activity in 2025 took place on projects that had gotten underway before the year began. The biggest of the projects, of course, is ELCO Yards, the large mixed-use project that is occupying six blocks that formerly were home to (among other things) Towne Ford, Hopkins Acura, and, once upon a time, the Redwood Roller Rink. Construction on the four office buildings spanned almost the entirety of 2025, but that part of the project essentially wrapped up in the fall, leaving us with a very different looking, but attractive, new part of Redwood City: 

My understanding is that the developer intends to pull permits for the project’s two apartment buildings in 2026; work on those buildings will presumably get underway shortly thereafter. One of the new seven-story residential buildings will stand on the now-empty lot that used to be home to Hopkins Acura — along El Camino Real between Maple and Beech streets — while the other will soon rise along Main Street between Beech and Elm streets.

A handful of other significant projects finished up in 2025. For instance, this new office building at 1390 Woodside Road:

This building had been under construction for quite a few years, so I was glad to see it finally wrap up early in 2025. However, I went by in December and it doesn’t yet appear to be occupied. Then again, I’m not seeing any “for lease” signs, so who knows?

The eight-unit townhouse project at 955 Woodside Road finished up in 2025, and that one, at least, is either partially or fully occupied by now:

Directly across the street, the two restaurant spaces that were undergoing significant remodels at 976 and 980 Woodside Road wrapped up before the end of the year. Bravo Taqueria, which will be returning, will be joined by Bay Burgers sometime in early 2026. And farther down Woodside Road, at the corner of Woodside and Central Avenue, remodeling of the space for what was to be Redwood City’s sixth cannabis retailer finished up in 2025 — but by then the business’s permit had been revoked, due to their inability to open within the required two years. So for now, the space just sits, empty.

Many visible projects throughout the city didn’t finish up by the end of the year. For me, the biggest disappointment is the city’s new Veterans Memorial Building/Senior Center, which definitely should have wrapped up by now. The project has been plagued by delays to the point where it failed to open to the public by year’s end, as had been anticipated:

For the record, on-site construction began in mid-2021, so this is going to end up being a four-and-a-half year project, at least. Then again, the Broadway Plaza (now Broadway Village) project has been underway for even longer, having gotten underway in mid-2019. From the outside, the first phase of that project — the three large apartment buildings at the Chestnut Street end of the parcel — is wrapping up nicely. According to the developer, people will be moving in to the project’s 520 apartments in 2026 (in mid-February, for the 120-unit affordable apartment building, which faces Chestnut Street). When I last visited the site, in mid-December, even the last of the three buildings was looking nearly complete, at least from the outside:

Once these three are done, I believe the developer still intends to proceed with the second phase, which will see the construction of three office buildings at the Woodside Road end of the parcel, atop an extension of the project’s subterranean parking garage.

My most recent photos of the 690 Veterans Blvd. hotel project are from early December, so I’m eager to get out there and see what has changed in the intervening weeks. That project, which broke ground in late 2023, is making fine progress: when I was last there the windows were being installed:

I still find it hard to believe that this 91-room hotel is squeezing into the space formerly taken up by a Shell gasoline station, but it is…

In 2022 I attended the “unveiling” of what is now officially called the Taube Family Carriage House and Automobile Gallery, but at that time the funds had not been entirely secured, and a true groundbreaking was still a ways off. That basically occurred in mid-2024 (some preparatory work had been done prior to that, mainly to relocate utilities that ran beneath the former parking lot). Throughout 2025 work on the new museum building continued, to the point where it was nearly complete by year’s end:

Keep an eye out for an announcement of the opening of this new addition to the county’s set of museums.

At the beginning of 2025, Rise City Church‘s new sanctuary building on Middlefield Road was still in the framing stage. By August this fascinating looking building looked pretty much done, at least from the outside:

Since then work has continued on the parking lot and, presumably, the building’s interior. I don’t believe that the building is quite done yet, but I’ll need to pay it a visit to be sure.

In late 2023 a small infill project at 239 Vera Ave. — a five-unit townhouse project being constructed on a lot that formerly held a single-family home — got underway, and throughout the past year I was sure that it was going to wrap up in 2025. It did not, although it is certainly close:

Next, there is the affordable housing project underway at 112 Vera Ave. As if to set some sort of record, the project was approved in April of 2025, demolition began in August, and construction was underway by October. By the end of the year the foundation was still being built, but once it is done, expect things to speed along: the building will be assembled from prefabricated modules, so the seven-story, 176-unit building should rise up quickly over the current year or so.

Stanford’s nine-story medical building began construction early in 2025; it’s amazing to see how much progress has been made in the past eleven months:

The year 2025 is also when the large mixed-use (housing and a fitness club) development out at 557 E. Bayshore Road got underway. It, too, is making good progress:

In somewhat lesser development news, Sequoia Station was completely repainted; Shores Landing gained a new community center and community garden; and Hyperion Climbing Gym began adding height to its building. In 2025 the developer of the 131-unit townhouse project planned alongside Redwood Creek (at 1548 Maple St.) received permission for a 3-year delay, while two major proposals were withdrawn: 1205 Veterans Blvd. (479 apartments), and the 136-unit apartment project slated to replace the American Legion Post 105.

Turning to infrastructure projects, Main Street was rebuilt through ELCO Yards, Beech Street was aligned with Lincoln Avenue at El Camino (cars cannot pass directly between them, but pedestrians will be able to), and two blocks of protected bike lane were added along El Camino Real from Cedar to Maple street. Redwood City’s sewer conveyance pump station was completely rebuilt, the water reclamation facility in Redwood Shores was being upgraded, and the city’s web of recycled water pipelines grew significantly in 2025. Just behind 505 E. Bayshore, a PCB cleanup project took place in the waterway between that parcel and the Bair Island trail:

Last year the Jardin de Niños park expansion got underway, the city piloted an upgrade of Lawrie Duncan Park, the Main Street Dog Agility Park was rebuilt, Mitchell Field in Red Morton Park received new artificial turf, a new fitness court was constructed adjacent to the Redwood Shores Library, and the Hoover Park renovation project was awarded to a contractor.

Lastly, the Highway 101/Woodside Road interchange project is now funded, and Redwood City is currently acquiring parcels needed for right-of-way. Also, the project to bring ferry service to Redwood City made a bit of progress.

Looking to Redwood City’s future, development-wise, the city either received proposals for, or approved, a healthy number of projects in 2025. The city approved both the office building proposed for 901 El Camino Real and its associated affordable housing project at 920 Shasta St. The city approved a lot split at 2336 El Camino Real needed for a six-unit townhouse project, and a redesign of the multistory office-and-residential project intended for 1201 Main St. It approved the 32-unit townhouse project to be built at 1320 Marshall St. and the new YMCA building for Red Morton Park. The submission for 910 Marshall was updated (plans now show a 21-story, 222-unit apartment building). And in the last quarter of the year, proposals were submitted for both an affordable housing project at 705 Veterans Blvd. and a large office project intended for 505 Penobscot Dr.

On the business front, Redwood City saw a lot of activity in 2025. Autozone moved to make way for a proposed office building (the now-approved 901 El Camino Real project), while AM Party Rentals opened on E. Bayshore Road. Fireside Books & More opened at 2421 Broadway; the Center for Creativity took over the lobby of the Hotel Sequoia building; Con Azucar Café opened on Theatre Way; Ocean Oyster Bar & Grill and Cardamomo Pizzeria both opened along Broadway; and both Yumi Yogurt and a new police substation opened in Sequoia Station. The Yard Coffee closed briefly to spruce up their outdoor space, but reopened before the year was out:

Both the downtown Starbucks and JoAnn Fabrics closed their doors permanently in 2025 (as did the city’s RiteAid pharmacies). City Pub closed, but The Wild Rover opened in its place; Baires Bakery was replaced by Sana’a Café; and de Vine Wine & Beer opened in the former BottleShop space on Broadway. Finally, a fire at Avenue Liquors in Roosevelt Center temporary closed Oh Baby Sushi and Big Brothers Burgers, while a vehicular accident now has Hassett Ace Hardware (in Woodside Plaza) closed for significant repairs.

That’s a lot of activity for a city the size of Redwood City — and of course it doesn’t count the many smaller projects, in particular the many home remodels that took place in 2025. But as I noted at the beginning, things are quieter than they were just a couple of years ago. I’ll be interested to see how 2026 stacks up: I’m guessing that things will be as busy, if not busier, than they were this past year.