BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
Redwood City Councilwoman Diane Howard tonight (Sept. 8) likened a proposal for a 21-story senior housing development to the Empire State Building.
Howard wasn’t happy with the design for the proposed building at 910 Marshall St., saying it’s too tall for the area.
The 222-apartment project would be the tallest building on the Peninsula, along with South San Francisco’s Genesis North Tower at 21 stories. The tallest building in Redwood City is 900 Jefferson Ave. Box building at 10 stories and the Indigo apartment building at 10 stories.
The only building that would be taller is the proposed 40-story complex at the former Sunset Magazine headquarters at 80 Willow Road in Menlo Park.
But Councilman Chris Sturken disagreed with Howard’s assessment of the proposed tower, saying it’s not like the Empire State Building because it’s five times taller.
Councilwoman Isabella Chu said the tall building would be great for the city’s future to not be limited by a height limit put in place in the 1950s.
But Councilwoman Kaia Eakin said the development isn’t attractive to her, and has concerns about the tall building being located in “San Mateo County’s living room.”
The maximum height the city allows is 12 stories in the downtown area, but developer R&M Properties says the height is worth it because of the amount of housing it will provide.
The proposed building will have extensive services for its residents that will employ several people, according to city Principal Planner Lindy Chan.
The building would have a theater, fitness room, yoga room, dining rooms, a bar and lounge area, swimming pool, salon, library and community rooms, according to Chan.
The first two levels of the building will have 95 parking spaces, with valet service, Chan said in her report.
The proposal is for people who are 55 and older, and who wish to remain independent. The units allow people to have access to kitchens, but also have supervision if needed, Chan wrote.
The council was only giving feedback to the developers from R&M Properties before the project goes through environmental review and review by the city’s Architectural Review Board and Planning Commission.
NO!
Had councilwoman Howard been on the NY City Council in the 1920s, there would be no Empire State Building. There would be no great, bustling cities today with more politicians of her ilk in government.
This building is no Empire State Building. It is more like a 21 story Khrushchyovka (look it up). When people live in a soviet style Khrushchyovka, don’t act indignant when they become the socialists you despise. The overdeveloped urban landscape is essentially a socialist mass production facility.
In complete agreement. There is a canyon-wide gulf between the Empire State Building — designed by lauded architects as a landmark, a symbol of progress, and at the time the tallest building in the world purposely meant to inspire — and a utilitarian housing block thrown up simply to cram in more people and inflate real estate values in a landlocked area. It’s like comparing the Mona Lisa to a duck-face selfie on Instagram.
I hate liberal gas bags who say things like “look it up”, as if all of us don’t have as much education as this clown. He cites no studies to back up his claims, just “trust me because I say it’s so.”
Wow, has Fox News damaged you. Please, turn it off and seek assistance.