Menlo Park Fields New Presidio Bay Ventures Proposals

Presidio Bay Ventures is looking to build more than 1,000 residences in Menlo Park.

The San Francisco-based developer has submitted plans with the Silicon Valley city to build 347 apartments in downtown Menlo Park and 670 units on Middlefield Road in the Linfield Oaks neighborhood, adding 1,017 total residences to the city’s housing supply, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The downtown plan calls for replacing three parking lots with housing meant to serve the local workforce. The proposal includes a public parking garage for local businesses as well as a separate garage for residents. The city is also considering two other applications: one from Alliant Communities and another from a joint venture of Related California and Alta Housing.

Menlo Park officials will hold an open house for residents and local business owners to view displays of all the proposals and see presentations about the projects at a city council meeting in March. The city is expected to choose a proposal in April or May.

Aside from Presidio Bay’s downtown endeavor, locals have been opposed to the City of Menlo Park’s efforts to add housing in downtown Menlo Park due to a loss of parking.

Presidio Bay’s 670-unit project at 345 Middlefield Road would redevelop a 17-acre site occupied by 16 buildings, currently including a 20,000-square-foot laboratory facility once home to a U.S. Geological Survey office and the GeoKids child care center. Presidio Bay purchased the building from the General Services Administration last year for $137 million. Plans call for three apartment buildings, four office buildings, 40,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, a new child care center and a dog park.

Presidio Bay has already broken into the Menlo Park market. The company built the 760,000-square-foot Springline project, comprising two office buildings, 183 apartments, ground-floor retail and subterranean parking.

— Chris Malone Méndez