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Dozens of people attended the Stanford University’s open house of its new faculty housing on El Camino Real in Menlo Park on July 29. The event featured face painting and ice cream tacos as well as a tour of the apartment complex.
Out of the 215 units, eight one-bedroom units are reserved as affordable housing for Menlo Park residents who were picked by lottery, while the rest are for Stanford faculty. Leasing for the apartments began in May. Middle Plaza also features retail and office space, and a plaza with tables that is open to the public.
The eight affordable units are due to a requirement to have below-market-rate units that are managed by Menlo Park, with the priority for those who meet income limits and are currently working or residing in Menlo Park, according to Whitney McNair, Stanford’s Faculty Staff Housing Senior Associate.
“The area has a real housing need, so we wanted to bring a substantial amount of housing,” said Steve Elliot, Stanford’s Senior Managing Director of real estate development.
Rent ranges from $2,791 to $4,134 for one-bedroom apartments and from $4,108 to $5,466 for two-bedroom apartments according to the Middle Plaza website.
Gisele Rodriguez da Silva, a visiting scholar to Stanford University from Brazil, moved into Middle Plaza with her family in early July.
“I have a lot of space and everything is new, the people are friendly and I like it here a lot.” she said.
Longtime Menlo Park resident Kenneth Mah said he is happy with Middle Plaza’s apartment complex, but has concerns about the retail space, which will include high-end watchmakers and a flagship store of Stephen Silver Jewelry.
“I thought it was built with the intention of being a community amenity,” Mah said. “But that does not seem to be the model of their leasing of the commercial space.”
