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REDWOOD CITY’S MONTHLY MAGAZINE
BRYANT FILES LAWSUIT
AGAINST CITY
S
25
ABOVE:
Bob Bryant inside his coffee shop on Broadway
Bob Bryant, owner of Bob’s Court House Coffee
Shop, filed a lawsuit against Redwood City that
seeks damages for the loss of business and property
damage as a result of the 18-month construction of
the city’s new movie theater and courthouse square.
The lawsuit was filed by Bryant’s attorney. It claims
the theater project was delayed for nearly a year due
to the city’s “inadequate planning, sporadic performances
of work and substandard work” that
resulted in the prolonged closure of Broadway,
Marshall Street and Middlefield Road. The street
closures affected both employee and customer parking,
according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for repairs to
the building, injury to business good will, loss of
profits and expenses incurred by Bryant as a result of
the construction.
City Attorney Stan Yamamoto said his office has not
yet been served with the lawsuit. Bryant has 30 days
to serve the city with official notice of the lawsuit,
Yamamoto said.
It is no secret Bryant was one of the top critics of the
development process. His shop is directly across the
street from the new 20-screen theater and the
Courthouse Square. He saw business dwindle as construction
lagged for nearly two years.
“We lost 75 percent of our business. We’re just now
getting it back,” Bryant said.
The Redwood City City Council approved the theater
project in 2002, executed a development agreement
in 2003 and began construction later that year.
At that time the city closed Middlefield Road from
Jefferson Avenue to Broadway. The streets remained
closed until August 2006, according to the lawsuit.
The delays of construction caused the obstruction of
access to Bryant’s business, crowded out parking,
destroyed the “good will of the business” and prevented
Bryant from generating revenue.
Constant construction also damaged the building’s
foundation, causing cracks in the tiled floor. Bryant
said the city promised to fix the problem but never
did.
Approximately 60 percent of the business returned,
but the rest depends on the success of the downtown
development and how many visitors it attracts.
“The project will be good if we ever get off the
ground,” Bryant said.
The city unveiled its newly made-over downtown
late last year, complete with a long-anticipated 20-
screen theater/retail complex on Middlefield Road
and a facelift of its historic courthouse on Broadway.
The area sits behind Sequoia Station, near the
Caltrain stop, and was built with high hopes of drawing
visitors and their money.
The theater project was sponsored by the city — as
opposed to a private developer — and is the first part
of a larger plan to redevelop downtown into a highdensity
urban core with more mixed-use buildings.
It has not been without roadblocks. Property owners
whose land was seized by eminent domain sued the
city a couple of years ago, claiming they were not
paid the fair market value. The city ultimately settled
with the property owners.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Daily
Journal newspaper.
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