BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
Menlo Park has received three proposals from developers to build housing on downtown parking lots, despite a citizens’ initiative on the November 2026 ballot that will allow voters to reject the plans.
Council selected six developers to return with more detailed proposals to redevelop the parking lots between Santa Cruz and Oak Grove avenues into public housing, but only three submitted plans: Alliant Communities, Presidio Bay Ventures and Related California.
The ballot initiative was originated by Save Downtown Menlo, which is comprised of downtown business owners, landlords and some Menlo Park residents. It allows voters to have a say on any proposed housing.
The city released the three proposals on Wednesday. Here is a summary of the proposals.
Alliant Development — Alliant Development’s proposal would include 345 apartments across four buildings, 738 parking spaces, and 556 of those spaces would be replacement parking for the existing lots.
They are also proposing 381 bike parking spaces distributed across the four buildings. The submitted design plans do not specify heights, allowing them to be flexible and be able to incorporate community feedback. The proposal also includes a park in front of Coffeebar. Alliant is the developer behind the redevelopment of the former Flood School campus at 320 Sheridan Drive into teacher housing.
Presidio Bay Ventures — Presidio Bay Ventures proposes to build 347 apartments across three five-story buildings, with 814 parking spaces and 556 will be for the public. Presidio Bay owns the Springline development at 1300 El Camino in Menlo Park.They plan to have a standalone garage along University Drive with 455 spaces and two public parks at Crane Street and Oak Grove Avenue. Along the parks, there will be ground-floor retail stores in the buildings along Oak Grove and Maloney Lane. Their goal is to promote local shops. Presido Bay plans to build its project in three phases. Their plan is to first build the garage, given residents’ concerns about losing public parking, one of the three buildings and the public park. They anticipate construction to last 3 years.
Presido Bay owns the USGS campus, a 17-acre property at 345 Middlefield Road.
Related California — Related California, in association with nonprofit Alta Housing, is proposing 500 apartments, including 126 for seniors and 220 for families, across three buildings. The tallest building is nine stories. They plan to take up most of the space on University Drive with a garage made of 556 to 574 spaces and space for bicycle parking and a new park. Along Maloney Street, a seven-story and an eight-story apartment building with 154 resident parking spaces is proposed. As well as another seven-story building with 120 parking spaces along Oak Grove Avenue.
Council will meet early next year to review the proposals.
Here are links to the three proposals:
Retail on Santa Cruz looks dumpy and run down. Maybe one of these developers will spark a renaissance.
Glad to see Menlo Park is helping to end the housing shortage. These all look like good proposals. Hopefully voters will agree.
So much for the small town feel of Menlo Park with a 500 unit project in the middle.
According to the YIMBY groups, you and the rest of us that invested our life savings in single family homes in Menlo Park are the problem. Apparently the City Council agrees with them.