Redwood City Is Building Homes To Attract Businesses

More homes, more businesses.

That’s the mindset of Redwood City officials during the current construction boom in the downtown and surrounding areas. And while there are still vacant spots for retail stores downtown, the boom in development of new buildings — most of which are residential projects — is the first step in remedying those empty spots.

“The first order of business is to get people here,” said, Bill Ekern, Redwood City Community Development Director. “Retail is just singularly the most difficult thing. It’s the last coin to drop in downtown, you have to get the balance of people living here.”

In other cities, businesses are offered tax abatements — a tax exemption granted by government — to attract local retailers to the area, but they aren't in Redwood City. Instead, the emphasis is on building an area in which residents can reside and have things to do, Ekern said.

“That’s why the housing is being built now,” Ekern said. “People have said, ‘Yeah we want to live here.’ Then, the next phase is the businesses.”

The new additions to the downtown area during recent years have helped create that allure, Ekern said, with projects such as the development of Theatre Way and Courthouse Square.

“I think the city wisely started in saying let’s make the downtown a special place to be, get people used to coming downtown,” Ekern said. “It’s the same kind of activities that I might get in some neighborhoods in San Francisco, but I don’t have to be in San Francisco. I don’t have to deal with the congestion, some of the urban situation.”

Ekern said because of the city’s geographic location, it is drawing in residents from both the north and south metropolitan areas, and the city’s growing population reflects that.

According to the most recent census data, Redwood City had a population of 76,815 in 2010. Redwood City Planning Manager Blake Lyon projects that the population will grow to upwards of 80,000 by 2020 and in the mid-80,000 range by 2030.

“We’re certainly seeing quite a bit of growth in the high-tech industries,” Lyon said. “We’re starting to see ‘the Facebooks’ and other groups of residents coming into Redwood City and this area.”

Beyond that, the city is also experiencing a change in demographics, Lyon said. As the population gets older, the trend is to move into an area that is easier to maintain — for example, out of houses with big yards that need to be kept clean.

“We’re seeing a lot of that of trend, and a lot of the baby boom generation that might not want to keep up with the family home — looking to maintain a steady, active lifestyle in condominiums,” Lyon said. “It’s just kind of a shift of what people are looking for.”

Redwood City believes it’s building the type of housing in demand, Ekern said. There are a few multi-family dwelling projects in the works: such as an apartment project off El Camino Real in the old location of Mel’s Bowl and another on Veterans Boulevard at the site of an old car dealership.

“I think all this stuff is going to fill up,” Ekern said. “And by 2016, all the apartments that are being built now are going to be occupied.”

Businesses should follow shortly after, Ekern said. With a new crop of residents in the area, the greater demand for more shops and other businesses should call for retailers to snag vacancies in the downtown area.

“Housing will fill up, so there will be people that are living downtown,” Ekern said. “They will then start wanting other services other than restaurants and bars, and the retailers will figure out that residents need whatever else people will need.”