Menlo Park affordable housing Oak Gardens development breaks ground

Affordable housing developer MidPen Housing recently broke ground on Oak Gardens a 62-unit development in Menlo Park, the home to tech and finance giants such as Meta, Robinhood and Andreessen Horowitz.

The housing community, located at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at 795 Willow Road, helps meet the city’s need for 2,946 units by the year 2031. Of that, 56% are to be marketed to individuals and families with moderate to very low income.

The new affordable housing development was named Oak Gardens. It will feature 55 units slated for veterans who have low incomes and are on the brink of homelessness. The structure will be three floors high and consist of 59 parking spaces, according to city documents.

“My hope is that this project can serve as a testament that affordable housing should go everywhere in our community,” said Drew Combs, mayor of Menlo Park, in a statement. The city has made a point of mentioning that the mayor lives a few blocks away from the development to help validate the city’s push for affordable housing.

Come Tuesday, The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors will vote to allocate $9 million to another affordable housing proposal but at Menlo Park’s 320 Sheridan Road. Unlike Oak Gardens’ focus on veterans, this site will give preference to county employees.

MidPen Housing entered into a ground lease with the VA for the development. Oak Gardens is being funded through city, county, state, federal and private grants and loans.

MidPen hired Van Meter Williams Pollack to design the development and Guzman Construction Group as contractor.

Source and full article: Silicon Valley Business Journal
By: Asia Martin – Reporter, Silicon Valley Business Journal

More on Oak Gardens: VMWP