Redwood City Approves Development of Transit District

Redwood City has approved a project to transform the Caltrain station into a mixed-use transit district in a unanimous vote of the city council.

The transformative project at the Sequoia Station will redevelop an area now occupied by a strip mall into a vibrant, walkable section of Redwood’s revitalized downtown that will include new apartments, hotels, retail shops and office space.

The project originally proposed to build a 17-story building, which would have been the tallest ever constructed in the city. The original plan also envisioned three 10-story buildings.

The plan has been scaled down to building that won’t be higher than 12 stories. The development will connect the downtown to neighborhoods west of the Caltrain tracks with pedestrian and bike-friendly spaces and the more than 1,000 housing units that will be built on the site. homes proposed for the site.

Several mixed-use developments are underway in Redwood City near the Caltrain station. In October, the biotech REIT IQHQ  secured a $581M in construction financing for its Elco Yards office and life science campus.

The five-year loan was co-originated and co-funded by KKR Real Estate Finance Trust and KKR affiliates, according to an earnings release. KKR said in a statement that its trust covered a quarter of the loan but declined to disclose the other lenders.

IQHQ is redeveloping six downtown blocks along Redwood City’s Caltrain corridor on the San Francisco Peninsula. The district will have 540 apartment units and 600K SF of office and life science space that the company is building on spec, with four buildings to be delivered in 2024.

IQHQ acquired the 8-acre site for Elco Yards in an $43M transaction with JP Morgan and Greystar. IQHQ is partnering with Greystar on the three-building multifamily component.

The multi-faceted biotech REIT also is in the midst of building a $1.6B R&D hub in a downtown waterfront district in San Diego. In August, the REIT purchased the Hyatt Regency La Jolla Aventine hotel in the city for $216M.

The deal was the second priciest hotel trade in San Diego in the past five years, eclipsed only by the sale late last year by the $227M sale of the Embassy Suites La Jolla.

IQHQ is developing the $1.6B San Diego Research and Development District on a waterfront site in San Diego previously known as the Manchester Pacific Gateway. The life sciences hub will include several mid-rise buildings clustered around a 17-story tower, as well as 150K SF of on-site amenities, including ground-floor retail space.