Big developer wheels and deals for downtown Redwood City sites

REDWOOD CITY — A real estate development firm has begun to quietly widen its footprint in downtown Redwood City with property purchases next to one of the company’s high-profile projects.

IQHQ, a Southern California developer that is developing a mixed-use office, housing and retail development in downtown Redwood City that’s called Elco Yards, is buying sites on blocks adjacent to the huge project.

Through an affiliate, IQHQ paid $13.5 million for a property at 1745 El Camino Real in Redwood City, according to documents filed on Nov. 2 with the San Mateo County Recorder’s Office.

IQHQ bought the parcel in an all-cash deal, the county documents show. Family trusts named for Nicholas Athens and Candida Athens sold the property to IQHQ.

A BevMo! wine and spirits store is the principal occupant of the property that IQHQ has just purchased, Google Maps shows.

Yet this isn’t the only property next to the Elco Yards development site and near the 1745 El Camino Real parcel that IQHQ has bought so far in 2022.

In January 2022, an IQHQ affiliate paid $4.1 million for a parcel at 128 Cedar St., which is about a block away from the 1745 El Camino property.

The early 2022 purchase also was an all-cash deal. Demma Trust sold the 128 Cedar property to IQHQ, according to the property documents.

IQHQ’s high-profile development effort in downtown Redwood City is the Elco Yards complex.

Elco Yards, located at 1601 El Camino Real, is being built on the site of a one-time industrial zone of warehouses, auto dealerships and repair shops, as well as a wrecking yard.

The Elco Yards development, which has received $581 million in construction financing, features 540 apartments, including 147 affordable units; 530,000 square feet of offices, 28,800 square feet of retail space and a childcare facility totaling 8,400 square feet.