Documentation

Developers often start with very big plans on purpose. This is called "anchoring." In negotiation theory, anchoring refers to setting an initial position that "anchors" the range of possible outcomes, even if that initial position is somewhat extreme. 

In essence, they ask for more than they really want. Then, when they make the plan smaller, people feel better about saying yes. This happens a lot in California.

Developers do this to: Give room for cutting back and See what people and cities will accept

For example, the East Palo Alto shoreline Ravenswood Business District was first proposed at 4.4 million square feet and recently, after 4 years of negotiations, reduced back to 3.3 million square feet, a reduction of about 27%

In California, reductions between 20% to 35% are common.

The final result of the Plan Redwood Life Process 

Feb 10th, 2025 consultants released video presentations of what they call alternatives 1 and 2 

Feb 12th, 2025 last in-person meeting 

Alternative 1 removes 1 building, alternative 2 removes 2 buildings

For reference here are the overall square footage of each plan, how they relate to the existing office park and what the percentage change is for each: