Facebook is developing its own city with housing, offices, parks, retails stores and more – everything that is required for community living. It has partnered with the Signature Development Group for this venture. It will be called Willow Park and will be spread across 59 acres in Menlo Park, California. It will be located between Belle Haven and East Palo Alto.
In May, the building plan was updated. It will be built in the area which currently houses a single purpose industrial complex which was used as a warehouse. Facebook owns a few other buildings on the huge site.
The proposed project could include
- 1729 apartments with approximately 320 of them as affordable housing and 120 will be senior housing
- A 193-room hotel
- A supermarket
- A pharmacy
- Cafes and restaurants
Apart from community facilities Facebook will also build 1.25 million square feet of office space for offices, meetings, and conferences.
Outdoor features include
- A 1.5-acre town square
- Multiple parks in about 4 acres
- A two-acre elevated park
The proposed city is next to its Frank Gehry designed headquarters in Menlo Park. The proposal as well as its environmental impact is being considered by Menlo Park officials. The designs that have been released are futuristic on the site that once was the Menlo Science and Technology Park. Housing will also be available to non-Facebook staff.
Many tech companies have been criticized for bringing in workers by the thousands to Silicon Valley and other parts of California without providing affordable housing and other facilities.
Last year Google announced that it would be building an “Urban City” in San Jose, California. It said that the complex would contain 7.3 million square feet of office space. About 4000 homes would be built in the city within the city and a quarter of them will be affordable housing.
Now, Facebook has come forward with a proposal to build affordable as well as employee housing. Recently Facebook had offered incentives to employees who lived within 10 miles of their offices. Now it is offering them homes next to its offices.
Photo-Anthony Quintano
