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The Menlo Park Planning Commission will hold a hearing to discuss the future of the current site of Juban Yakiniku, Union Bank and a computer repair store — next to Ace Hardware in downtown Menlo Park — at its meeting Monday night, Dec. 11.
A proposal has been submitted to demolish the existing building at 706 to 716 Santa Cruz Ave. and build a new, 46,908-square-foot, three-story, mixed-use building with 55 parking spots there. It would have underground parking, retail space and parking on the first floor, offices on the second floor, and four for-sale housing units on the third floor.
After Planning Commission review, the project must go to the City Council for approval as a “subdivision” offering four new housing units and two new commercial units, according to a staff report. The proposal would comply with city zoning, the report says, while maxing out the amount of what’s allowed to be developed there, down to the square-foot and height maximum of 38 feet (with a 30-foot-tall maximum facade), with no setbacks. Private terraces for residents on the top floor would be on the building’s perimeter.
Two heritage trees would be removed and replaced, and the owner would pay $311,194 to the city’s below-market-rate housing fund.
The development would take up 4.1 percent of the allowable commercial development and less than 1 percent of the allowable residential development in the city’s El Camino Real/downtown specific plan.
The Planning Commission meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers at 701 Laurel St. in the Menlo Park Civic Center. Access the meeting agenda here or watch it online here.
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We can thank the Council for this one. Before the Specific Plan was approved, this building would not have been allowed. Yes the zoning now allows for this massive building that belongs in San Jose.
What was our Council thinking?
Looks great! Could be twice as tall, with more housing- the upper floor setback keeps things chill at the street level.
“What was our Council thinking?”
That maybe the majority of MP residents are tired of the blight on ECR and sick of a downtown that looks like it was built in the 70’s?
I don’t have a problem with the project but I detest the boxy design. It will not age well, and looks more like an office park than part of a small city. Welcome new blight
I agree, new blight. How about a charming Carmel-like building? Something that fits more with the surrounding area? It doesn’t cost any more to build something that looks inviting, instead we get an ugly box.
Joan:
haven’t you heard? The in style is contemporary now.
This massive building would be wildly out of scale on Santa Cruz Avenue. I don’t know how the Planning Commission can even consider approving it.
Look at the artist’s rendering ~ that wide, featureless street looks like El Camino Real, not Santa Cruz Avenue. I’d like to see a rendering of the building drawn on the actual corner where it would be built ~ I think people would be shocked at how huge it is, and how it dominates that corner, and indeed, the entire block.
This building would be appropriate on El Camino, or, as Thanks, Council said, in San Jose. It is NOT appropriate for downtown Menlo Park.
I’m all for development, but yeah I think this design needs some iteration. It looks very sterile, and not nearly as warm and inviting as I would like to see on Santa Cruz Ave.
Take a look at the new Coffee Bar being built on Chestnut for inspiration of what a big, modern, inviting building looks like.
Looks like the planning commission kicked this one back…..
With major new developments on the old car dealer lots designed with a CA mission style (sort of), why can’t our downtown convey a similar style as it redevelops? The boxy design of this project belongs in an office park, not the downtown of a small city. I hope the Planning Commission considers the design precedent this project represents, and the opportunity to set the stage for a charming and cohesive downtown over time.