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Facebook expected to lease eight-story Menlo Gateway office building

Original post made on May 12, 2017

In addition to nearly a million square feet of office space the city of Menlo Park has authorized Facebook to build, the company has indicated it plans to lease the new eight-story office building under construction by the Bohannon Companies at 100 Independence Drive in eastern Menlo Park.

Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, May 12, 2017, 11:57 AM

Comments (20)

Posted by Resident
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on May 12, 2017 at 3:00 pm

I'm pretty sure that building is like 10 stories, not 8.


Posted by Willows Neighbor
a resident of Menlo Park: The Willows
on May 12, 2017 at 5:05 pm

Not sure how this statement: "Facebook will continue to invest in Menlo Park demonstrating our commitment to the area as an active and responsible community member.” make them responsible???? How about investing in public transportation solutions as a responsible neighbor and company in our community. I guess they don't care that most of their employees will be spending hours of their time sitting in traffic just to get home to their families. So stupid I just can't believe this whole thing!


Posted by Willows Resident
a resident of Menlo Park: The Willows
on May 13, 2017 at 7:21 am

Well, the people of Menlo Park had the opportunity in last election to send a message to council regarding outlandish development. Instead they returned current council.
Echoes of Donald Trump's base ... ignorance and tolerance of policies inimicable to the common man?
Today, it's 'in gold we trust'.


Posted by Menlo worker
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on May 15, 2017 at 7:14 am

They have ruined this town. I simply cannot wait until the. Ext crash and their overbuilding and overconfidence sends them packing.

We have seen this over and over again. Facebook should just look to see who use to be stationed in their main building a few years ago.


Posted by Menlo Employee
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on May 15, 2017 at 11:24 am

Gosh, Facebook is practically taking over every building in this office park. I still cannot fathom what all of those employees do.


Posted by dominate the home market
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on May 15, 2017 at 11:38 am

" I still cannot fathom what all of those employees do" Really? No clue?

Market domination. Doesn't seem like a hidden agenda.


See also: Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Google


Posted by Martin Engel
a resident of Menlo Park: Park Forest
on May 16, 2017 at 9:29 am

Web Link

See also: Web Link


Posted by resident
a resident of Portola Valley: other
on May 17, 2017 at 10:40 am

And where are all the employees cars going to drive ?? The freeways are already jammed as well as the surface streets. Maybe Facebook should be mandated to use commuter buses for all their employees. Each Bus will take at least 100 cars off the freeways


Posted by dominate the home market
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on May 17, 2017 at 11:02 am

"Facebook should be mandated to use commuter buses"
"Each Bus will take at least 100 cars off the freeways"

Nope. Discounting your exaggeration of average bus capacity, let alone typical load, the building will be used by a lot of people whether they are with FB or not.

And *mandating* the use of mass transit?!?!

Ummm, okay; that'll go over well with the folk posting here! How about increasing Caltrans funding?


Posted by Rchard Vaughan
a resident of another community
on May 17, 2017 at 12:55 pm

By continuing to allow such overbuilding without mandated transit infrastucture, we are fouling our own nest. This is true county and region -wide. Why aren't our county leaders mandating that light rail be a part of the overall equation to solving the traffic woes on both 101 and 280?
Are we going to wait until complete gridlock overruns us ever day rather than every third day before we take action?
It is time to have Grand Proposals - because if we don't solve this, no one will be bringing their business here after 5-10 years. Not only is it too expensive to live, but you can't get anywhere.....so why bother?

Proposed solutions:
Dumbarton Rail - Connect Facebook to Fremont Ace Trains and Redwood City Cal Train
BART - Get a German or Swiss Boring Machine and run underneath El Camino from Milbrae to San Jose airport
Cal Train - Get on with electrification and ignore HSR
HSR - Run it right up the middle of 101 on elevated tracks. Forget including anyone on the peninsula and go directly from San Jose to SF. Regional infighting and lawsuits can be avoided. The view to the Bay is already ruined by all of the office buildings going up along the 101 corrider. No one will notice.


Posted by One Company town
a resident of Menlo Park: South of Seminary/Vintage Oaks
on May 18, 2017 at 12:34 pm

And there's more: Web Link

Monday night Planning Commission Meeting will hear about Facebook's request to change its use permit.

Will a company as large as Facebook ever reveal its long range plan? Do we sit passively by and respond to Facebook's news when it is ready to share it?

Does the EIR completed for Facebook's phase 2 cover the growth we are now learning about? How many Facebook employees will occupy Bohannon's office buildings? How will different employee numbers impact traffic, air quality and noise? How with an increased employee population impact the city's housing deficit?

Planning Commission please ask the probing questions. You represent the residents of Menlo Park


Posted by Richard Vaughan
a resident of another community
on May 20, 2017 at 6:51 pm

And There's More Part 2

We just got a post card about a community meeting in Redwood City that proposed this for the space where the mini-golf and go-cart fun land used to be.
This is just north of Woodside Rd and probably includes the old Lyngso property.

Web Link

If you look at the transit proposal, there is nothing realistic about incorporating existing rail lines for lightrail (although, technically, they are freight lines) or commuting...

Couple this with the redevelopment of the Broadway/Woodside Rd Plaza (5-7 five story buildings) and the new Stanford Medical Admin buildings going up on Bay Rd.- and we've got gridlock from Whipple down from Redwood City to Palo Alto...I give the peninsula 10 years and then the whole thing shuts down at rush hour... Today, my glass is half empty.


Posted by pdj
a resident of Menlo Park: Belle Haven
on May 20, 2017 at 9:35 pm

pdj is a registered user.

Maybe it is time to re-visit the Dumbarton Bridge Southern access route. The original could be modified to meet current environmental requirements.


Posted by PV resident
a resident of Portola Valley: other
on May 22, 2017 at 7:03 am

If Facebook wants to invest in the community, they should pay for & man a fire station , police station & maybe an emergency care facilities. Probably if there was an emergency , no services could get to the need be destination because the vehicles would be stuck in their own traffic jams. That would take some heat off the coffers of Menlo Park for that expense.


Posted by Peter Carpenter
a resident of Atherton: Lindenwood
on May 22, 2017 at 8:00 am

Peter Carpenter is a registered user.

But the Menlo Park City Council has already approved, as the Lead Agency, the EIR for Facebook and stated that this huge development would have "no significant impact" on fire, police or library services - go figure!!


Posted by monkey no see
a resident of Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park
on May 22, 2017 at 3:02 pm

And supposedly there are no real impacts on housing demand
Tell that to the residents being displaced here in belle haven and in redwood city near the stanford projects and downtown.
The lack of responsible planning is staggering.


Posted by Teresa S.
a resident of Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park
on May 22, 2017 at 8:45 pm

For about the 1000th time, Peter Carpenter confuses the idea of environmental impacts with $$$$$. The CEQA law was meant to protect stuff like condor nesting habitat, but he very publicly uses it as an excuse for his fiscal mismanagement of the Fire District. I really CANNOT believe that the District's counsel lets him post this claptrap, it's got to be used as evidence the next time something really bad happens?
Menlo Fire needs to fundamentally reinvent itself and stop sending a 40 foot ladder truck when someone is having heart palpitations. Maybe that means buying a few smaller properties for EMT mini-crew bases, which is more complicated than posting self-pitying comments on the Almanac site, but I guess we know which choice Peter will make?


Posted by Joe
a resident of Menlo Park: Suburban Park/Lorelei Manor/Flood Park Triangle
on May 23, 2017 at 8:06 am

City of Facebook = formerly East Menlo Park


Posted by Dawn1234
a resident of Menlo Park: Belle Haven
on May 23, 2017 at 1:00 pm

It was never East Menlo Park. It's the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park. And it's the northernmost community in Menlo Park.


Posted by really?
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on May 23, 2017 at 1:50 pm

I though I lived in South Atherton?


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