Affordable Housing — Strong Market-Rate Numbers, a Serious Affordability Gap
active• menlopark
Menlo Park is making genuine progress on housing production — but that progress is deeply uneven. As of the end of 2025, Menlo Park had already permitted nearly 60% of its required higher-income units but had permitted a much smaller share of the requirements for more affordable units. The city's full RHNA obligation is approximately 3,000 units by 2031, with the most challenging component being 740 units for very low-income households — those earning less than 50% of the area median income. Three major affordable projects are in progress: 251 below-market-rate units at Parkline, 41 at 888 El Camino Real, and 345 units proposed for the downtown parking lots — but even after counting all three, a substantial shortfall remains. Meanwhile, a six-story residential building has been proposed for downtown, and a mixed-use project at the former USGS campus — calling for the demolition of 253,000 square feet of existing office and lab space across 16 buildings and replacing them with housing, office space, and neighborhood amenities — represents one of the most ambitious development proposals in the city's history.
Follow this issue
Follow this tracked issue to save updates about Affordable Housing — Strong Market-Rate Numbers, a Serious Affordability Gap in your CivicCause account. This follows the specific issue, not the broader cause generally.
Sign in to save this issue and set a future alert timing preference.
Related cause: Housing Affordability
Issue Timeline
No timeline events linked yet.
Linked meetings
No linked meetings yet.
Related news
No linked news articles yet.
Linked organizations
No linked organizations yet.
Where Groups Stand
No organization positions yet.