New Life Given to Century 12 Redevelopment

It has been 12 years since the last time a movie was screened at the Century 12 Theaters on East Bayshore Road in Redwood City.  In 2003 they were shut down in favor of the new Century 21 complex downtown, a moment that marked a huge turning point in the city's history.  Since that time, the downtown area has undergone a massive revival, with "Theater Way" playing a huge role in drawing people and their money into local restaurants and businesses.  But as downtown flourishes, the old Century 12 Theater site sits frozen in time, serving mostly as extra vehicle storage space for the neighboring car dealerships.  Several plans for how to redevelop the land have surfaced over the years, but none ever gained any significant momentum.  This may be in part due to the fact that right around the time Century 12 shut down, the owner of the 14-acre parcel of land, SyWest Development, had begun focusing energy and resources into other business endeavors, effectively moving the redevelopment of the site to the back burner.  However, recent reports indicate SyWest is now turning their attention back towards the site. According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, SyWest Development has recently submitted a conceptual proposal to redevelop the land.  The proposal includes a 100,000 S/F luxury "VillaSport" health club, and 550 housing units (275 1-bedrooms, and 275 2-bedrooms).  It is unclear at this point whether these units will be for rent or for sale, though a site plan does allegedly show a "sales office".  This proposal is said to be only preliminary, meaning it's primary purpose is to gather feedback from the city, from which point the plan could either change or be dropped all together. Regardless, in order for this project to progress at all, SyWest is going to need approval from the city to rezone the land for residential development.  This might not be a huge obstacle though, as Redwood City Planning Manager, Steven Turner, noted that the precedent for residential has already been set in that area with the nearby 249-unit One Marina development, and the city is not opposed to approving more. I will post updates to this development, as they arise, directly to my blog: camiloperezrealestate.com/blog.