Menlo Park’s Planning Commission voted this week to approve a 105-unit multi-family housing project, with some of the units being reserved for lower-income occupants.
The project involves a plan to redevelop a 0.9-acre site at 111 Independence Drive into 105 housing units, a 746-square-foot cafe and a multi-story parking garage. The building would be eight stories tall and the ground floor would include a fitness area, lounge and leasing office. The 15,000-square-foot office building that currently occupies the project space will be demolished.
The project includes 14 housing units at below market rates.
To accommodate increased height, density and floor space above the zoning standards for residential mixed-used development, the project needed to provide community amenities, such as the cafe.
Planning Commission Chair Henry Riggs said that while two planning commissioners disagreed about whether the project’s small cafe could count as a neighborhood asset, after some discussion the commission agreed to approve the project.
The Planning Commission is the final decision-making body on the project unless it is appealed or the City Council calls it for review.