Menlo Park to consider 320-unit housing, office development in the city’s Bayfront area

Two weeks after Menlo Park rejected a moratorium that would have put a hold on most development projects throughout the city, a plan to build a seven-story apartment building and a three-story office building is up for initial consideration.

The proposed mixed-use project — dubbed Menlo Portal — calls for demolishing three single-story office and industrial building and constructing a 320-unit apartment building and a 34,708-square-foot office building on a 3.2-acre site at 115 Independence Drive and 104 and 110 Constitution Drive in the Bayfront area of Menlo Park.

As a first step in the city’s review process, the Menlo Park Planning Commission will provide input on the project at a study session at 7 p.m. Monday. Following the study session, city staff will choose a consultant to complete an environmental review of the project plans, according to a city staff report.

The project comes before the city’s planning commission two weeks after the city council discussed — but ultimately decided against — directing the city attorney to draft an ordinance putting a moratorium on commercial development city-wide and all residential developments over 100 units in the city’s bayfront area between Highway 101 and the Bay.

Mayor Pro Tem Cecilia Taylor and Councilmember Betsy Nash, who both joined the council in December 2018, submitted a moratorium request to the city on June 5, citing the city’s jobs to housing imbalance as a reason to pause development and reevaluate the city’s land use policies.

Instead of moving forward with a moratorium, the council decided to review the city’s General Plan and Downtown Specific Plan and consider modifications in certain areas of the city, including increasing density and height regulations in the city’s downtown area and decreasing density and zoning levels in the city’s Bayfront area.

Greystar could be required to make substantial changes to their Menlo Portal proposal if the council decides to adopt changes to the city’s land use plans.

The apartment building in the Menlo Portal proposal would comprise of a two-story above-ground parking garage and five stories of units above. The apartments would be a mix of studios, junior one-bedrooms, and units with one to three bedrooms, according to the proposal.

The city’s below-market-rate housing ordinance requires Greystar to provide 15 percent of the units at below market rates to very-low, low and moderate-income households or pay an in-lieu fee, which would go into a city fund to build affordable housing elsewhere in the city. The current plans do not outline the number of affordable units or the breakdown of affordability levels that would be included in the project.

The office building would consist of two levels of above-grade parking, lobbies and commercial space with one story of offices above. A public open space with seating and art would separate the apartment and office building.

The Menlo Portal proposal is one of two mixed-use housing and office projects proposed by Greystar in the city’s bayfront area.

The developer also submitted plans to the city to build a 483-unit housing development that would include two apartment buildings, 42 for-sale townhouses and 2,000 square feet of office space on a 4.8-acre site at 141 Jefferson Drive and 180-186 Constitution Drive.

Since the city increased the zoning levels in the city’s bayfront area a couple of years ago, many residents in the nearby neighborhood of Belle Haven have grown increasingly concerned with the negative impacts of the area’s development.

Belle Haven resident Sheryl Bims said projects like these, which are increasing traffic, exacerbating congestion and degrading air quality on the east side of the city, are making the area unsafe to live in.

“We don’t want that project,” Bims said. “…This is irresponsible development. I really believe our city can do a lot better.”

Andrew Morcos, senior development director for Greystar, promised in a letter to the city that the company would “engage the community and our future neighbors in order to thoughtfully gather, consider, and incorporate feedback.”

“We believe that the region is in dire need of more housing, especially as regional employers continue to grow rapidly and traffic worsens,” Morcos wrote in the letter. “A jobs/housing imbalance has existed in recent years and is expected to continue into the future, causing further stress on housing availability, increased rents and traffic.”