Awesome!

Bring on more mixed use buildings on ECR! Tired of empty lots.

Excellent, this sounds like a great use of the space. These should be walkable to Downtown, transit friendly (easy walk to Caltrain), and we really do need more housing!

I'm thrilled to hear of this development! We need more rentals/housing and to get rid of El Camino blight!
Cheers to the City Council and Planning Commission for moving projects forward!

but why does it take 2 years from the time of submittal to final approval??

Big whoop.

I seem to recall that the town house units were to be used for businesses to house visiting executives. Is that still the case? Will the development include any low cost housing? And, how much is a town house going to sell for?

"low cost" housing in this area isn't what anyone would think it is. Real estate values are so high here that even reduced costs for these units wouldn't be viewed by regular folk as "low cost."

What's up with the former car lots??? Can the city get those and make parks?? Soccer baseball open use fields????

Are there plans for affordable housing for seniors anywhere in Menlo Park?

For @Mark and others - As I recall from my time on the Plannjng Commission, these apartments were planned to be high end furnished units appropriate for longer term stays, not typical rental units. Whether that's still the business model for this project I do not know.

City:

do you have any idea what it would cost for the City to acquire those vacant car lots? The city doesn't have that kind of money.

I applaud the addition of rentals, but am concerned about 4
things:

1. more parking provided on site for the residents and potential office visitors/customers
2. thorough study of traffic congestion abatement on an already El Camino
3. inclusion of below market/low income rentals at the site. We desperately need REALLY affordable, way-below market/low income housing and some sort of subsidization for those - maybe 2-3 of the 16 planned units.
4. drought-tolerant, native planting and no removal of heritage trees

@Judy

This project is already approved. The reason thing don't get done in MP is because every project get's 2nd, 3rd and 4th guessed.

No project is perfect.

Please stop 2nd guessing approved projects. This is why we have so many empty lots in MP.

and because of all the 2nd guessing 0% of the housing in the DSP has actually been built

This is a nice start, but what happened to the low income aspect of revitalizing the ECR corridor? It is very much needed, as are senior affordable apartments, but this project sounds very high end, and doesn't begin to supply the affordable housing issue. I have heard for too long "Not in my neighborhood" for any project, and it is time we considered our blue collar workers and elderly in our plans. Without them we are just greedy rats cashing in on the housing crunch.

Thank you, Ernest. I am a 75-year-old senior who is about to become homeless due to rent increases soon to be greater than my fixed monthly income. I have nowhere to go and am very afraid. I do not hold out much hope that the issue of affordable housing for seniors is going to be adequately addressed here on the SF Peninsula, where I was born, and have lived and worked my entire life. Praying for a miracle.

Dear MPer,
Sorry about second guessing, but Menlo Park has been tolerant about questions that have come in about the general plan and sometimes things do get revised from citizens' input. Comments here do stimulate others to get involved sooner for the future.

Thanks for your comments.

Dear Pearl,

Sorry about your situation, one of many on the peninsula because of high rents and the lack of truly affordable (i.e. low income) rentals. There's a meeting September 15 at the Redwood City Library that you might want to go to - they'll be talking about tenant's rights, including rent increases. There may be something you can do:


Tenants' Rights Workshop


Learn about the legal rights of tenants in San Mateo County, and practical steps to address common problems such as eviction notices, rent increases, lack of repairs, and security deposit refunds. Attend a brief presentation from6:30 to 7:00, with time for individual questions from 7:00 to 8:00.

More Information

Contact: Redwood City Public Library
Phone: 650-780-7020
Email: [email protected]

Two groups regularly meet at the library: Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County and the group doing the Sept. 15 meeting.

Good luck!

To Judy Adams:

Thank you for that information. Much appreciated. Rep. Jackie Speier held a town hall meeting a couple months ago to address the lack of affordable housing issue. So far, she is the only one of my elected representatives who is actively addressing the situation. Thanks, again, for the information.

Pearl

Ditto on comments for low income housing and for seniors in ALL developments.