50/50 Balanced Plan to Create Huge Job and Economic Benefits

The Saltworks 50/50 Balanced Plan will create thousands of new local jobs, deliver billions of dollars in new economic activity and produce a permanent regional economic engine according to a recent study conducted by Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. The study was released at an economic forum in Redwood City in mid-June.

Among the plan’s many economic benefits:

• Project construction creates nearly 29,500 temporary jobs with temporary wages and benefits totaling $1.8 billion over the build-out period. Nearly 1,100 construction-related jobs will be created on the Saltworks site and sustained over the course of the 30 years needed to build the community. That kind of job creation will reverse immediately what is today a local unemployment rate for construction workers that is nearly triple the California unemployment rate. The jobs created at the site would employ skilled and unskilled labor, from those operating heavy machinery or framing homes to ironworkers, electricians, plumbers, roofers and landscapers.
• More than $6.8 billion in total County economic output -- across all industry sectors -- resulting from construction.
  The economic clout of the jobs created in the process of building the Saltworks -- in everything from construction to retail -- will generate $6.8 billion in economic activity for Redwood City and neighboring communities. When the Saltworks is complete, more than 4,400 people will work in its newly constructed offices and retail shops, while 30,000 people will call it home.
  
• Development supports between 6,150 and 9,480 annual jobs with wages and benefits ranging from $399 million to $422 million annually.
  
  
• Unique opportunity to inject nearly $410 million per year into the local and regional economy from household spending.
  New residents are projected to spend almost $410 million per year on everything from furniture and appliances to groceries, clothing and movie tickets. That's an average of $34,000 per household, with 80 percent of that going to everyday spending like groceries, dining and general merchandise. This spending will improve the fortunes of existing retailers and it will help support the expansion of retail locations in Redwood City and its immediate surrounding areas.
  
• Redwood City sales will generate $1.6 million in annual sales taxes.
  
  
• Opportunity to revive and support Downtown retail and entertainment offerings.
  The Saltworks community (only 1/2 mile from downtown Redwood City) will become an integral part of the revitalization of downtown Redwood City. The Saltworks residents represent three times as many people as are expected to live in the downtown area itself under the new downtown plan. People from the Saltworks will be able to walk, bike or use a convenient transit link to come downtown. Residents are expected to spend more than $21 million a year on drinking and dining in Redwood City, and they will spend almost $5 million per year on entertainment.