Meta is pushing pause on Willow Village, a huge mixed-use office, residential and retail development in Menlo Park. The project promised to bring long-sought services to the Belle Haven community, including a grocery store and pharmacy, in addition to hundreds of new housing units.
“The Willow Village development is being placed on hold due to shifting real estate market conditions and evolution in space requirements,” Adam Alberti, the Willow Village spokesperson, said in a May 1 statement. “After careful evaluation, it was determined that the environment does not support advancing a project of this type and scale at this time.”
The Menlo Park City Council approved Willow Village in December 2022 after extensive negotiations. The project was approved for 1.6 million square feet of new office space, over 1,700 housing units and up to 200,000 square feet of retail space. The core of the project sits on the former Menlo Science & Technology Park site, located at 1350-1390 Willow Road, 925-1098 Hamilton Ave. and 1005-1275 Hamilton Court. The 59-acre site has been vacant for years.
“It’s disappointing and makes it even more important that Menlo Park pursues affordable housing downtown,” said Menlo Park Mayor Betsy Nash, referring to a controversial plan to build homes above several city-owned parking lots.
An aerial view of commercial buildings owned by Meta in the Menlo Science and Technology Park in Menlo Park on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
A map of the Menlo Science and Technology Park in Menlo Park on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
A commercial building owned by Meta in the Menlo Science and Technology Park in Menlo Park on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
A commercial building owned by Meta in the Menlo Science and Technology Park in Menlo Park on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
A commercial building owned by Meta in the Menlo Science and Technology Park in Menlo Park on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
A commercial building owned by Meta in the Menlo Science and Technology Park in Menlo Park on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray. 
A commercial building owned by Meta in the Menlo Science and Technology Park in Menlo Park on Feb. 25, 2026. Photo by Seeger Gray.
Willow Village’s planned housing units are a key part of Menlo Park’s housing element, accounting for 18% of the below market rate development (BMR) required by the state, and more than 100% of its market rate housing for the eight-year housing element cycle that ends in 2031.
“There is a hole in our housing element. We will need to take a look and see where we are,” Nash said. “1,730 is a huge number to make up.”
Alberti, who works for public relations firm Singer Associates, called Meta’s decision “difficult” in the statement. “While the plan reflects a genuine vision for community-based development, the current real estate market and a shift in space requirements make advancing a project of this type and scale unworkable at this time. We remain deeply committed to the community and appreciate the trust and partnership throughout this process,” he said.
He added that the decision “is not a reflection on the quality of the proposal itself, nor does it diminish the strength of our collaborative work.”
Meta representatives informed City Manager Justin Murphy and Councilmembers Nash and Cecilia Taylor of its decision on Friday morning, according to Nash. Taylor, who represents the Belle Haven community, did not respond to inquiries from The Almanac.
“Yes, it was a surprise but it was obvious that there were challenging economic times,” Nash said about the meeting.
The development agreement between Menlo Park and Peninsula Innovation Partners, the Meta-controlled LLC created specifically for the development of Willow Village, is the legal contract that lays out the conditions for the project. It gives Meta vested rights to the development, granting Meta and its real estate developers certainty by locking in the terms of the agreement. But the agreement is nonbinding, meaning Meta is not compelled to execute any part of it.
“Nothing in this agreement obligates (the) developer to undertake the project,” the agreement states.
Negotiations for the Willow Village project took at least five years as city officials, Meta representatives and community members weighed in on its details. The development was approved in 2022 after years and years of debate about how the development would impact traffic, jobs, schools and housing. Because of the development’s scale, Meta proposed over $180 million in “community amenities” to the city, including a long-awaited grocery store, a bank and a pharmacy. Those amenities were tied to the construction of the office and residential buildings.
According to Alberti’s statement, coordination with the city will continue on next steps related to existing applications and regulatory processes. Menlo Park spokesperson Kendra Calvert was not immediately available to comment.
The decision comes as Meta recently announced plans to lay off almost 10% of its workforce, starting in this month. The layoffs were largely due to the company’s increase in infrastructure spending to support the growing need for data centers to power artificial intelligence.
In an earnings call on April 30, Meta said it plans to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion on capital projects largely related to artificial intelligence this year – even higher than it had previously forecasted. The company’s revenue came in at $56 billion, a 24% increase from the previous year. As of May 1, Meta’s stock price had dropped around 8% following the earnings report on April 29.
On May 18, Menlo Park’s Planning Commission will conduct the Willow Village annual review, a requirement of the development agreement that assesses the developer’s “good-faith compliance toward the obligations of the agreement. At last year’s annual review meeting, representatives from Signature Development Group, Meta and city officials attended the meeting.
So now that Meta is leaving District 1 in the lurch, it’s more important than ever for the City Council to reach out to Sacramento/HCD and begin the process of amending our Housing Element, as now there’s obviously a need for the 345 units Mayor Nash hoped to squeeze into downtown parking lots, to be built in District 1 instead, where they will be actually needed.
Willow Village ‘promised’ a lot but we have heard a lot of promises here in Belle Haven, and not enjoyed very many results. A lot of us expected nothing from it but more traffic on Willow, which already contributes outsized pollution to our air. I am glad to see it ‘put on hold’ indefinitely. The last thing we need over here is more building of any kind.