California Attorney General Robert Bonta has weighed in on the prolonged planning process for 80 Willow Road in Menlo Park, San Mateo County. More than two years have passed since N17 filed plans for the 665-unit development, dubbed Willow Park, and the most recent progress shared by the city in May was the latest determination of ineligibility for processing under Assembly Bill 2011. In the recent ten-page letter from the Attorney General to the city, Bonta declared that the reasons for delay range from improper to unlawful.
The ten-page letter detailed what the Attorney General describes as inaccurate interpretations of state law, violations of state law, and unlawfully requiring the applicant to fund the City’s outside legal counsel. The letter concludes by saying, “the City’s actions with respect to the Project application, as set forth above, would represent a violation of both laws,” referring to AB 712 and AB 2011.
80 Willow Road central plaza, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
80 Willow Road facade close-up, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
80 Willow Road apartment lobby view, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Solomon Cordwell Buenz is the project architect responsible for the design. The development would include four structures, including a two-story preschool structure, a 15-story office complex, and two residential towers extending 33 and 39 floors. The largest structure is expected to rise 458 feet tall, making it the potential future tallest building in San Mateo County, surpassing the 317-foot Genesis North Tower.
Full build-out would include 665 residential units, 332,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail, and 164,000 square feet for the 130-key hotel. Of the 665 units, 100 would be deed-restricted as affordable to lower-income households.
Demolition would be required for the former Sunset Magazine headquarters, which was currently listed in the California Register of Historical Resources and was deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Willow Park Montesorri School, rendering by Solomon Cordwell Buenz
80 Willow Road, image via Google Satellite
In a press release shared with media, N17 founder Oisín Heneghan provided the following statement: “The Attorney General has made clear that Menlo Park cannot continue moving the goalposts or requiring a housing applicant to bankroll the City’s own resistance to approving housing… The State has now rejected every remaining legal basis the City asserted for denying streamlined approval. We look forward to working with the City to finalize approvals and begin delivering much-needed housing.”
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Oh, this is funny.
Comical? Practical? Realistic?
Once the precedent is set, you can just have three awkward towers standing alone. If only these communities didn’t fight tooth and nail against the gradual approach…