Report: New Menlo Park research building could accommodate 650 more employees

A research and development building proposal at 1350 Adams Court could bring up to 650 employees to Menlo Park, according to a draft environmental impact report that was released for the project on Monday.

Tarlton Properties has hoped to bring a new life sciences building to an undeveloped area of an 11.2-acre site since 2018. Currently, there’s one other building on the site leased by Pacific Biosciences, but the overall parcel is part of the larger Menlo Park Labs campus, which spans more than 50 acres and 18 buildings, according to the company’s website.

The developer plans to construct a 255,000-square-foot, five-story research and development building that will be, at max, 92 feet high. A partially underground parking garage with about 706 parking spaces would also be included to accommodate more employees.

In addition to the building, Tarlton proposes 48,000 square feet of public open space on the corner of Adams Court and Adams Drive. This would connect to a “innovation science walk,” that spans along Adams Drive and O’Brien Drive and is dotted with sculptures.

The city planning commission in 2019 previously raised concerns about the open space, arguing that it won’t be well utilized.

The scope of this project also requires the developer to provide a community amenity, such as creating publicly accessible open space. Tarlton has opted to pay the city an in-lieu fee to meet that requirement.

The draft environmental impact report indicates that the project will “not result in any significant and unavoidable impact.”

“All potentially significant project impacts would either be less than significant or would be reduced to a less-than-significant level with implementation of identified mitigation measures,” the report stated.

The report does highlight a few “areas of controversy”: transportation, greenhouse gas emissions, population and housing, and other areas including pollution and population growth that may affect local schools.

The report estimates that the building can accommodate approximately 650 employees.

During a study session in April 2019, some planning commissioners at the time expressed concern that there wasn’t proper transportation infrastructure in place to allow more development in the area.

The report is now open for public review before it heads to the planning commission for approval. Public agencies, organizations and individuals have 45 days from the report’s initial release date to review and comment.

Read the full report at beta.menlopark.org. Hard copies of the draft report are also available at Menlo Park Library at 800 Alma St. and Belle Haven Library at 413 Ivy Drive.

Comments can be sent to the city’s senior planner Tom Smith, addressed to the Community Development Department, Planning Division, 701 Laurel St, Menlo Park, CA 94025. The public can also email comments, which is preferred, to tasmith@menlopark.org.

There will be a public hearing for oral comments at the planning commission meeting on May 2.