A plan by Kaiser Permanente to add nearly 200,000 square feet of new offices and more than 500 parking spaces at its Redwood City campus could go to city planners for approval early next year.
Kaiser, which operates a hospital, four outpatient buildings and three administrative buildings at its 15-acre campus between Veterans Boulevard and Marshall Street and Maple and Walnut streets, plans to demolish its outpatient and administrative buildings there and consolidate all those offices into a four-story, 197,800-square-foot complex with 539 parking spaces and 81 bicycle spaces in three underground levels, according to a staff report.
The new building would house 143 doctor’s offices and 116 examination rooms, according to Kaiser’s plans.
The city’s Architectural Advisory Committee asked Kaiser in March to revise its plans to provide more open space, widen campus sidewalks and emphasize other ways to get and leave there than driving. It approved the project with those changes on Nov. 30.
Kaiser shortened a vehicle drop-off area, freeing up more room for landscaped open space and a pedestrian-friendly plaza adjacent to the new building, which will be 75 feet tall, at the corner of Marshall and Maple. Additional open space will be provided to employees in the form of a third-level rooftop terrace with outdoor seating.
Kaiser is also proposing a children’s play area and spaces for farmers market booths, according to the staff report.
Staff is expected to bring the project to the Planning Commission in early 2018 for possible approval, city publicist Meghan Horrigan said.
“This is the final step in the review process, if it is not appealed to the City Council,” Horrigan said.
The project is being done in two phases, but the city currently is reviewing only the first phase. The second phase involves construction of a new surface parking lot, open space elements and completion of streetscape improvements, as well as demolition of the one-story buildings.
The project is being split into two phases because city parking requirements cannot be met until one of the existing buildings is razed, according to Kaiser.
Once completed, the new office building is expected to feature specialty care clinics, conference rooms, a gift shop, a cafe, and health education and support services on the first floor; outpatient surgery and offices on the second floor; and more specialty care clinics and offices on the fourth floor.
