BY NORAH SHEPPARD-HUTCHINS
Daily Post Staff Writer
There may be a potential buyer of the 80 Willow Road property in Men1o Park where a Russian billionaire wants to build a 39-story skyscraper, Councilman Drew Combs said Wednesday.
Over the last several weeks, Combs and Mayor Betsy Nash have been involved in discussions with the potential buyer, Combs said in an interview with the Post.
“They have presented themselves in their interactions with the city that it’s not an effort that looks to redevelop the property in the near term,” Combs said.
Combs did not say who the potential buyer is, except that they have local connections, but he wouldn’t describe them as a local residents.
Combs described the potential buyer as knowledgeable of the historical significance of the site, and about current property owner Vitaly Yusufov and N17 Development, who wants to build a 39-story building on the property.
The property is the former Sunset Magazine campus, which was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service in June 2025.
“They have indicated that their intended use of the campus could be accommodated with only minimal interior modifications,” Combs said.
Nash did not respond to the Post in time for publication.
The potential buyer would have to make a proposal to the current property owner, Vitaly Yusufov. Yusufov is a Russian billionaire and son of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former energy minister, Igor Yusufov.
Vitaly Yusufov purchased the property from Deutsche Bank for $72 million in 2018.
This comes a day after council announced they will not be approving the controversial 80 Willow Road skyscraper under a timeline set by the project’s developer and the Attorney General’s office.
Bonta’s letter and a follow up letter from developer Oisin Heneghan asserted the council must approve the project without further review by Oct. 27. Heneghan is threatening to sue the city if it misses the deadline.
The Post reached out to Heneghan, but did not get a response.
Since council said it won’t be approving the project, the city has been flooded with thank-you emails.
“It is refreshing to see a City Council that has the courage to push back against bad laws, bad development proposals, under-informed (hence, bad) decisions by the AG, and the threat of a lawsuit,” Annette Ross said in an email to council.
“Thank you for taking the courageous decision to decline approval of the troubled 80 Willow project, formerly the Sunset Magazine property. Your well-supported action is applauded by those who stand up for what is right and just,” wrote Palo Alto resident Ann Balin.
This is pure trumpian deflection. There is no buyer who will come up with that level of cash. Combs is up for re-election and he’s scared voters will rightfully tie him to the builder’s remedy that brought this debacle inn the first place. Sorry Drew, you did this. Own it.
Vamsi, this reads almost word-for-word like those flyers your guy passed out to people in the Willows a few weeks ago. But he’s the problem, Vamsi, the tower isn’t in Drew’s district. The tower is in council member Jeff Schmidt’s district. Schmidt is not saying anything about the 39-story tower. So Vamsi and the flyer guy are attacking the wrong person. Now that’s trumpian!
I’m not Vamsi, and I never said it was in Comb’s district. But Combs was part of the group that gave us this debacle by kicking the can on the housing plan. Jeff Schmidt wasn’t in office when the then council was negligent. Manlo Park can’t afford any more Drew Combs.
B.S. Vamsi, Schmidt has been on council for two years. You’re telling me he couldn’t do anything about these towers? What’s he doing on council if he’s so ineffective?
Hi Alan, to clear up a few points. The Housing Element was created by the previous council, before Jennifer and I joined. The deadline was missed and the 80 Willow project was submitted because of that miss. That council carries direct responsibility for 80 Willow. It happened on their watch and that’s not politics, it’s just a fact. And even though memories are short, it’s all on tape. Any member of that group blaming others is not taking responsibility for their role. I’ll always take accountability for the mistakes I make during my time on council, but not for the mistakes of the previous group.
I also don’t strive to manipulate public opinion using the press. I’m not so fragile that my name has to be in the paper every week. That’s not why I serve. And I’m never silent, just ask my wife. Or watch a council meeting or two and you’ll see. My office hours are (and always have been) from 9-10am every Saturday at Cafe Borrone. My direct line is 408.916.7059. Stop by or call anytime. We’ll have plenty to talk about.
I saw the guy who was passing out the anti-Combs leaflets. He’s [Name removed — Terms of Use violation.] He doesnt like Drew [Portion removed — Terms of Use violation. If you have proof, bring it over to our office on Monday.]
There are a lot of people who are disappointed and angry at Comb’s performance on the city council. The failed housing plan that will allow the Towers to be built, a budget in deficit, the slap-dash plan to replace downtown parking, and not holding his employer more accountable to the city are more than enough reasons to want a change. Heck, I’d be happy with someone who was just competent.
Sean, I think your third-grade teacher is disappointed and angry that you don’t know how to use an apostrophe.
So Jeff, you’re saying you’ve been on council for two years and haven’t accomplished one thing concerning this development?
What good are you?
You’re just an empty suit, who is doing nothing.
And your jab at Drew that he just wants headlines. Heck, at least he’s trying to do something.
Every time I’ve been to a council meeting in the past couple of years, when people have wanted to talk about these towers, the council pivoted to discuss bike lanes.
If you put 10% of the energy you put into bike lanes into stopping this project, we wouldn’t be in this crisis.
What could you have done over two years?
— Bring together several other cities who oppose the Builder’s Remedy and bring a lawsuit. Politically, it’s harder for a court to tell a united front of cities “no.” It’s easier to blow off one single city. (Hint: Courts pay attention to politics, though they will deny it and say they’re just following the law.) You don’t think a united front would work? In 2024, five cities in Southern California succeeded in getting a court to declare SB9 was unconstitutional when applied to charter cities. (The case is Redondo Beach et al v Rob Bonta et al). By the way, the cities were awarded their attorneys fees of $271,243.
— You could have negotiated with the Russian owners. Your leverage would be: If you don’t work with us, we’ll tie your project up in red tape forever. That’s how Palo Alto brought down the height of the Molly Stone’s development by 30 feet (from 17 stories to 14).
— You could have asked the feds to put the owners on the sanctions list. You’ve known about the Russian owners of this project for three years and could have contacted Rep. Liccardo or his predecessor, Anna Eshoo. But you didn’t do a thing. Dave Price had to make this an issue to get Liccardo to move on it.
— You could have leaned on Deutsche Bank to hold off on giving the owner any more money. Their “reputational risk” committee was already worried about this project when they gave him the initial tranche of money. Germans are very risk adverse. Shake them up. Explain to them that, once built, it won’t be a viable, money-making business. Get the trades unions to say they’ll boycott the place.
You could have pursued any of these avenues, or all of them. But you did nothing.
Let me ask you, Jeff, do you have a job? I don’t mean a job your dad gave you. I mean a job that has some responsibilities and KPIs. If you do, and your boss told you to solve a problem, and after two years, you had nothing to show for it, would you be able to keep your job? Now you know how Menlo Park residents feel about your job performance.
Thanks, Alan. There’s a lot in here to pick apart, disagree with, and get into detail on. Visit office hours and let’s have a real conversation.
Remember that the creek regularly overflows its banks fur rainy season. The generated instability problems makes the project uninsurable.
My father was the structural engineer on the NYC World Trade Center.
He was deposed for two years after two fully fueled airliners exploded after intentionally flying into the twin towers and exploding, and the WTC collapsed. I have some of his models.
I think the proposed project is uninsurable.
The multi-year process that went into crafting the housing element — that was later rejected by the state — was on Mueller’s watch. Maria Doerr voted on that housing element a few days after being appointed.
“How did this happen? Plainly, the Menlo Park City Council blew it by not getting the plan finished and approved on time. I know they’re going to blame others for that — politicians never take responsibility — but the buck stops with them because they oversee the city administration.” — Daily Post, Aug 26, 2024