"After that, we'll see what the market bears, whether it's a major redevelopment like previous owners have planned or more of a moderate redevelopment." Curtis Leigh, a principal at Hunter Properties, said this to Redwood City Pulse in July 2025. "After that" meant after a period of eight to 12 years with no major redevelopment at Sequoia Station. His reason was simple: most of the new tenants coming into the center wanted leases of about 10 years.
Counting from mid-2025, that puts any large rebuild somewhere between 2033 and 2037. The leases signed since then fit that timeline, and each one adds to it.
The plan that would have replaced it
For years, the expected future of the shopping center next to the Redwood City Caltrain station was a full rebuild. The Lowe Enterprises and Eden Housing proposal, covered by Redwood City Pulse in 2021, would have created six mixed-use blocks. It called for 631 homes, 254 of them affordable, about 1.2 million square feet of offices, 170,000 square feet of retail, new open space and land for expanded Caltrain tracks.
That plan never received full approval. In December 2023, Hunter Properties bought its 6.65-acre portion of the center for $53 million, according to Redwood City Pulse. The City approved the Downtown Precise Plan in November 2023. That plan set development rules for the area. It did not approve the Lowe project.
Hunter said when it bought the center that it planned to fix up the property and fill the empty storefronts. Leigh's 2025 comments confirmed that renovation and leasing, not demolition, are the current focus.
What a ten-year lease changes
A tenant on a short lease can leave quickly, while one signed for ten years can stay through the mid-2030s. When a restaurant builds a 4,000-square-foot kitchen and dining room, it expects to stay. When a clinic leases a whole freestanding building, it does the same. Every space filled on those terms makes it more likely that the Sequoia Station on El Camino Real today is the one that will still be there in the mid-2030s.
That is why the current wave of leasing matters. The tenant mix is changing, and the center's layout is staying as it is for the foreseeable future.
Storefront by storefront
The Walking Redwood City blog posted a detailed update on October 24, 2026. It was based on the latest leasing map from The Econic Company, which handles leasing for the center. Here is how each building stood at that point.
| Building | Before | What comes next |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Avenue building, El Camino corner | Old Navy | Kura Revolving Sushi Bar at the corner end, opening spring 2027 |
| Jefferson Avenue building, next to Habit Burger & Grill | Old Navy | Sweetgreen, 1109 El Camino Real |
| Jefferson Avenue building, two adjoining spaces | Vacant | Letters of intent under negotiation |
| Freestanding building across the driveway | Pier 1 Imports | Leased to DaVita, a kidney care and dialysis clinic |
| 1091 El Camino Real | Barnes & Noble | Party-supply store |
| James Avenue building | One vacancy between Teatime and Jamba Juice | Lease under negotiation |
| CVS building | Four empty spaces | One in lease talks, one in letter-of-intent talks |
If both letters of intent become leases, the Jefferson Avenue building between El Camino Real and the center's driveway will be fully occupied. The long James Avenue building, which runs from El Camino toward See's Candies, has just one vacancy, and that space is already under negotiation. The DaVita space had not been built out as of the October post.
Filling the center also brought back an old tenant. Yumi Yogurt had left Redwood City and was set to return at Sequoia Station in late August 2025, as Palo Alto Online reported. By December 2025 it was open again.
The corner Kura chose
Kura's arrival is the clearest sign that tenants are investing for the long term. The Redwood City Pulse reported that the restaurant at 1101 El Camino Real, Space F1D, will have more than 4,000 square feet and 123 seats. That is about 50% larger than Kura's restaurants at Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco and in Cupertino. It will also use the chain's newer interior design, which launched last year.
The location within the center matters too. Walking Redwood City pointed out that Kura is taking the end of the former Old Navy space closest to El Camino Real and Jefferson Avenue. That gives it frontage on El Camino and puts its entrance on the small patio at that corner.
Kura's chief development officer, Robert Kluger, told the Pulse that the company picked Redwood City because it sits between its San Francisco and Cupertino locations. "As of today, the Redwood City guest has to make a pretty long trek to get to our brand," he said.
Conveyor-belt sushi is rare on the Peninsula. According to the Pulse, the only current options are Izumi Revolving Sushi at Serramonte Center in Daly City and Kura in Cupertino. Sumo Sushi Boat in Los Altos removed its boats during the pandemic.
Here is what the Pulse reported about the format:
- Plates move past on a conveyor belt. Diners can also order specific items from a touchpad, and those arrive on a second express belt.
- The bill is based on how many plates you eat. Kluger said a full meal averages six to seven plates per person, and Redwood City's price per plate has not been set.
- Empty plates go into a slot at the table. After 15 plates, then 25, then every 15 plates after that, the Bikkura Pon system dispenses a prize.
- The menu has more than 100 items, and the California roll uses snow crab instead of imitation crab.
The Pulse lists the opening as spring 2027.
The space that changed most
Barnes & Noble was the biggest departure. The bookstore had been at 1091 El Camino Real for 33 years. In July, Redwood City Pulse reported that the property owner had asked the store to leave by September 16. Staff had believed the lease ran until January 2027.
The store's assistant manager told the Pulse that it drew train commuters because it sat next to the Caltrain station. She also said high school students came in after class and used it as a "third space." The closing sale took 40% off books, music and games. She said the sale brought in more business than Christmas.
The team told the Pulse it hoped to stay in Redwood City at a new location of at least 5,000 square feet, possibly with a café. The assistant manager named the former Rite Aid space at 340 Woodside Plaza as her first choice.
A party-supply store is taking over the old bookstore space.
The bookstore left the same summer the new leases were being signed, and the space went to a different kind of store. Kura, Sweetgreen, DaVita and a party-supply store are the businesses taking these spaces as the next decade begins. Safeway, CVS, See's Candies and Habit Burger & Grill remain on the site.
For homeowners near the station, a center built around long leases means the area's retail and services are likely to stay much as they are for years. If you're weighing how the next decade around the Caltrain station fits your own plans, The ReSolve Group is glad to talk it through with you, calmly and with the long view in mind.