RedwoodLIFE/Longfellow hosted two community Zoom meetings in mid-June to present plans to redevelop the existing office and technology park along Marine Parkway for life sciences. Community members participated in a Q&A regarding the vision and brought up environmental, traffic, housing and construction traffic, noise, dust and debris concerns following the presentation.

The Longfellow development group laid out the reasons for wanting to demolish the existing buildings and replace them with four fewer, but significantly taller buildings, adding approximately 2 million square feet of new office and lab space. Main reasons cited for desired demolition are that the interior of the buildings are not as conducive for life sciences, and outdated parking lots, which would be replaced with parking garages and allow for open green space areas. The development group said that buildings should be “L” shaped for collaboration. This seems unfounded as buildings of every bio-tech company in the Bay Area are of varying sizes and shapes; even the new MBC Biolabs and Alexandria life science buildings in San Carlos are rectangular, of different heights and spread across the East Side area.

Demolishing a technology park that has an abundance of office space that is attractive, contemporary and minimal in terms of height, a desirable aspect in an area that is primarily residential, is beyond wasteful.

The team acknowledged the many environmental concerns for construction given the site’s previous use as a waste dumpsite, and methane levels would need to be monitored during construction. Recent studies show methane is a more potent global warming gas than CO2. While methane is nontoxic, it is extremely flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air. Sea level rise and mitigation was raised with no clear answer as to how that would be addressed.

A host of community benefits were presented. A comment that community benefits being proposed, some of which already exist, could be accommodated in the existing park was offered but barely recognized by the moderator. As the amount of parking proposed is less than the amount required for the project, a transportation TDM plan would include a shuttle bus between the campus and the Belmont train and ECR bus transit stop. The vision is that the community will bike and walk to the campus. It is hard to imagine that those who live in the further reaches of the Shores will bike or walk to the property given the number of trails, parks and other amenities that exist closer to their homes. Parking lots, however, have proved to be valuable, versatile assets.

The application timeline would be approximately 3 years, starting with the current pre-application phase obtaining community and City technical feedback, followed by formal application, environmental impact review, additional review by City staff and Council, as well as public comment. Construction would begin in approximately 5 years and would be done in phases over the course of 10-20 years.

The vision of the project was described as similar to the scope of Mission Bay in SF. The appropriateness of a project of that size for the proposed location and the host of environmental, traffic and safety issues, as well as disruption to the neighboring communities over an extensive period of time needs to be fully considered.

There is a need for bio-tech office space, as bio-tech workers are generally not able to work from home. There are several bio-tech companies, including Acendis Pharma, Ascerta Pharma, and Nevro medical devices, currently located in the office park. Longfellow could make improvements that would make the existing office park more desirable for a wide variety of companies seeking office space, as well as for the overall community. There may be more suitable locations in Redwood City for a bio-tech campus on the scale being proposed, such as the Seaport Center along Chesapeake Drive. This site has dozens of older one-story R&D buildings that can be redeveloped using the proposed vision without environmental, traffic, safety and disruption issues that exist for Redwood Shores. This area is more of a waterfront property with the Port of Redwood City, versus sloughs and levees, with the added benefit of ferries between SF and the East Bay being planned. The Sequoia Station transit hub, which has more frequent trains and more bus routes than Belmont, will enable more employees to connect with campus shuttles.

Longfellow provided little clarity and seemed more interested in gaining a stamp of approval and less interested in constructive community feedback. Due to this, as well as hesitation of community members to comment publicly, especially when being recorded, RSCA is forming a committee of interested community members to study the impacts of this development on the everyday lives of Shores residents. Please contact if you are interested in being on the committee or providing feedback. You may also view the June PILOT article at www.rsca.org/biotech.