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Facebook is turning its new Willow Campus into a small city
Facebook Inc. has big plans for its next campus near its headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
Today, the social media giant revealed plans to do a major redevelopment of the former Menlo Science & Technology Park, which will be renamed as Facebook’s Willow Campus.
Encompassing more than 125,000 square feet, the Willow Campus will basically be Facebook’s own little self-contained city. In addition to Facebook’s offices, the campus will include “community-facing” retail space with a grocery store, pharmacy and more.
Facebook said that it also plans on building 1,500 units of housing on the campus, and it will offer 15 percent of these at below-market rates. While most of the residents at the new campus will most likely be Facebook employees, the company said that its housing units will be open to non-employees as well.
“Working with the community, our goal for the Willow Campus is to create an integrated, mixed-use village that will provide much needed services, housing and transit solutions as well as office space,” said John Tenanes, vice president of global facilities and real estate at Facebook.
According to Tenanes, Facebook’s Willow Campus and other real estate projects are aimed at not only improving the work space for its employees, but also at the community in which they live. For example, Tenanes said that the campus housing will help mitigate the impact of the facility’s growth on traffic, and he said that the development will also be “an opportunity to catalyze regional transit investment.” Facebook also plans on using some of its new space to expand some of its existing community programs, such as farmers markets and other events.
While Facebook’s dedication to the community is admirable, it is also likely a response to the enmity many people in the Bay Area have developed toward the tech giants that have taken over the region. Companies like Facebook and Google have brought a lot of jobs and talent to the area, but this has also caused rents to skyrocket and traffic to crawl.
Whether or not Facebook’s motives are pure, its new Willow Campus could potentially lighten the load on housing and transportation, which would be a welcome benefit for anyone in Menlo Park.
Photo: Facebook
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