When you buy a house in Menlo Park, how much do you actually know about what will be built down the street? Willow Road gives an unusually clear answer right now. Two very large projects sit on the same road. The one the city approved has stopped. The one the city has spent years trying to block is moving forward under pressure from state law. A buyer who reads either site from its entitlement status, or from the strength of local opposition, will get it wrong in both cases.
That matters more than usual because so little is for sale. In August 2026, Menlo Park recorded 25 single-family closings. The median price was $3,610,000, up 16.5% from a year earlier. Median days on market was 9, homes sold at 106% of list price, and inventory stood at one month. In a market that tight, buyers have little time to weigh what's planned nearby, and they tend to accept the version of the future shown in the most recent rendering.
An approval is an option, not a promise
Willow Village was approved by the Menlo Park City Council on Dec. 6, 2022. The Almanac described it as widely considered the largest development in the city's history. The approved plan covers 56 acres around 1350-1390 Willow Road and Hamilton Avenue. It includes up to 1,730 homes, 312 of them below market rate and 119 of them age-restricted senior housing, plus 1.6 million square feet of office space and up to 200,000 square feet of retail. It also includes a hotel of up to 193 rooms, a 3.5-acre park, a 1.5-acre town square, a dog park, and a 2-acre elevated linear park that would cross Willow Road.
The project exceeded the city's zoning, so Meta owed at least $133 million in community amenities. The negotiated package was valued by the city at $188 million. It included a full-service grocery store with rent subsidies valued at $32.4 million, a $15.5 million town square, $12.2 million for entertainment such as a cinema, live music venue or bowling alley, $10.3 million in dining, and a pharmacy.
The development agreement also set the terms that matter for anyone living nearby. In exchange for those amenities, Meta won vested rights to the project for 10 years. As The Almanac reported, the agreement also makes clear that Meta is not compelled to build any part of it. Most of the amenities were tied to construction milestones. The upfront items were $11.7 million in funding and services to nonprofits the city selected and $1.7 million for two years of subsidized rent for public school teachers. Those have been delivered.
On May 1, 2026, Meta paused the project, citing changing market conditions. The city's project page says the development agreement is still in effect and that the city will keep reviewing compliance every year. Put plainly, the entitlement still exists and the timetable does not. The grocery store, the town square and the park over Willow Road all remain planned components, with no opening dates.
What a paused plan does to the businesses already there
The approved plan also covers the Belle Haven Center at 1401 Willow Road and 871-883 Hamilton Avenue. Hamilton Avenue would be realigned through that parcel, and the elevated park would land there. Meta owns the shopping center, having bought it for use in Willow Village.
Dashi Japanese Restaurant, near Willow Road and Hamilton Avenue, closed on July 3, 2026, after 26 years. Owner John Bek had run it for 23 of them. Two days after Meta shelved Willow Village, he received a letter ending his lease. He told The Almanac that Dashi and the other restaurants in the plaza had been promised space in the new development. A spokesperson for the Belle Haven Center said the center had voluntarily provided more than $170,000 in financial relief to Dashi in recent years, along with a discounted month-to-month lease. According to that July report, Mi Taqueria, HAJI'S Restaurant and SAJJ Mediterranean were still operating in the plaza, along with Starbucks and Jack in the Box.
The housing effect reaches beyond Willow Road. The 1,730 approved units were counted in Menlo Park's 2023-2031 Housing Element, and the city says it will evaluate what the pause means for that plan. With one month of inventory, a citywide housing count that leaned on one large project is now uncertain.
Opposition is not a veto either
Farther along Willow Road sits 80 Willow Road, the former Sunset Magazine campus. That 6.7-acre site in the Linfield Oaks neighborhood sits at Middlefield Road and borders San Francisquito Creek and Palo Alto. N17 Development, representing Willow Park LLC, proposes about 665 homes, 332,000 square feet of office space, 17,000 square feet of retail, a 130-room hotel and a preschool. Three of the buildings would range from 301 to 458 feet tall.
The project is moving under state law. N17 is pursuing approval through SB 330, the builder's remedy and AB 2011. The builder's remedy allows developers to set aside local zoning in cities that lacked a compliant housing element. In November 2025, the city found the plan ineligible for AB 2011 streamlining and possibly ineligible for builder's remedy protection.
On July 29, 2026, Attorney General Rob Bonta's office sent the city a notice under AB 712. The notice said Menlo Park had violated AB 2011 and the Housing Accountability Act in how it processed the project. That notice changes the city's incentives. If the city is then sued and loses on those same violations, the court must impose mandatory attorney fees and a potential fine of $10,000 per unit. The Mercury News put the minimum potential fine at $6.65 million across 665 homes, before attorney fees.
| Willow Village | 80 Willow Road | |
|---|---|---|
| City position | Approved Dec. 2022 | Opposed; council rejected AG view Sept. 29, 2026 |
| Status | Paused by Meta since May 1, 2026 | Application in process; CEQA review not started |
| Homes | Up to 1,730 | About 665 |
| Who controls timing | Meta, under 10-year vested rights | The applicant, the AG, and potentially a court |
| What would stop it | Meta's own decision | A court ruling, a redesign, or a change of ownership |
Where the dispute stands this week
The timeline has moved quickly since August.
- Aug. 3, 2026. N17's attorney notified the city of an intent to sue.
- Sept. 10, 2026. More than 40 people demonstrated at Middlefield and Willow roads. Menlo Park resident Carla Loomis said she could accept a five-story project but not a 30-plus-story tower.
- Sept. 23, 2026. Rep. Sam Liccardo asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to review the site's ownership and financing. Liccardo framed sanctions evasion and national-security exposure as risks, not established findings. The Almanac reported that the people named were not under U.S. sanctions at the time.
- Sept. 29, 2026. After about 10 closed sessions, City Attorney Nira Doherty read the council's position. The council "respectfully disagrees" with the Attorney General. Mayor Betsy Nash acknowledged that the cost of litigation could affect city services.
- Oct. 27, 2026. This is the approval deadline asserted by N17's lawyer, calculated as 90 days after the AG notice. It is a deadline claimed by the applicant, not one set by a court.
Menlo Forward formed in 2024. It describes itself as supporting affordable housing and opposing "mega towers," and it thanked the council for its Sept. 29 decision. Others in the debate disagree. Housing Commission chair Will Oursler urged the city and the developer to negotiate a version the community could support.
Then there is the site's ownership. Title is held by Willow Project LLC, which bought the property in May 2018 for $72 million. Hours after the council's statement, Councilmember Drew Combs said a "serious" buyer was interested in purchasing the property. He did not name the buyer. No sale has been reported, and the current owner would have to agree to one.
What this means when you write an offer nearby
Neither project can be judged by its paperwork. Willow Village has every approval it needs, but Meta holds the timing, and the agreement does not require Meta to build. 80 Willow has strong local opposition, yet AB 712 makes it expensive for the city to keep saying no. The environmental review the city contracted in May 2025 has not started, because the city says it is waiting for the applicant to deposit the funds. Any of three things could change the outcome at 80 Willow: a lawsuit, a negotiated redesign, or a new owner.
For a buyer near either site, the useful questions are about control, not approvals. Who decides when construction starts? What can force a decision, and by what date? Is anything pending that would change the parties involved? No reporting so far links either project to nearby home prices, so any premium or discount a seller builds in is an assumption, not an established trend.
Common questions
Is any part of Willow Village open? The city's project page lists the grocery store, town square and parks as planned components of a project that has been paused since May 1, 2026, with no opening dates given for any of them.
Has 80 Willow Road been approved? No. As of Sept. 29, 2026, the city says it will keep processing the application and follow CEQA review unless the project shows it is exempt.
Where can I follow updates? The city posts updates on its 80 Willow Road project page and its Willow Village page. The Almanac has covered each step.
If you are weighing a home near Willow Road, Straser Silicon Valley can go through the project records, deadlines and pending decisions with you before you set your offer. Request a white‑glove consultation.
