Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Report

The City of Menlo Park, as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the following application:

General Plan Amendment, Zoning Ordinance Amendment, Rezoning, Conditional Development Permit, Development Agreement, Vesting Tentative Map, Below Market Rate (BMR) Housing Agreement and Environmental Review/Lane Partners, LLC/333 Ravenswood Ave. (includes 301 Ravenswood Ave. and 555 and 565 Middlefield Rd.) and 201 Ravenswood Ave. for the project variant (Parkline Master Plan Project):

The proposed project would comprehensively redevelop the SRI campus with a residential, office, R&D, and retail mixed-use project. Site circulation, open space and landscaping (other than retained trees) would be redesigned and rebuilt per a new comprehensive campus plan, including new bicycle and pedestrian connections. There would be no net increase of non-residential square footage. An existing 6-megawatt natural gas cogeneration plant that generates power and steam energy for the SRI International Campus would be decommissioned. In addition to the proposed project the City is evaluating a project variant submitted by the applicant. The project site is zoned “C-1(X)” (Administrative and Professional District, Restrictive) and governed by a Conditional Development Permit (CDP) approved in 1975, and subsequently amended in 1978, 1997, and 2004. Primary development program elements include:

• Approximately 287,000 square feet of existing office/R&D (Buildings P, S and T) retained for SRI’s continued operations at the project site;
• Demolition of 35 structures comprising approximately 1.1 million square feet, to be replaced with new office/R&D space of approximately 1.1 million square feet in five main buildings along with a smaller amenity building;
• Approximately 450 residential dwelling units (19 townhomes and 431 apartments) which would be subject to the City’s inclusionary requirement resulting in 68 units affordable to low income households;
• An approximately one-acre portion of land, proposed to be dedicated to an affordable housing developer for the future construction of a 100% affordable housing and/or special needs project of up to 100 dwelling units, resulting in a total of 168 units affordable to low income households out of the total of 550 proposed residential units; 
• Three new parking structures for the non-residential uses;
• Underground parking at the residential buildings and an underground parking connection between two of the office/R&D buildings;
• Approximately 25 acres of landscaped, publicly-accessible open space, including a large central open space between the office/R&D buildings; and
• A recreation area and one-story community building.

The project variant, which the applicant indicates they are pursuing, includes:

• An additional parcel located at 201 Ravenswood Ave. (currently Christian Science Church and Alpha Kids Academy) to create a continuous project frontage along Ravenswood Avenue;
• An increase in up to 250 residential units, for a total of 800 units (including 46 townhomes and 600 apartments, which would be subject to the City’s inclusionary housing requirement resulting in 97 units affordable to low income households; and up to 154 apartments in the 100% affordable housing and/or special needs project, for a total of 251 units affordable to low income households);
• The relocation of the 100% affordable building from its previous location along Laurel Street to the northeast corner of property by the intersection of Ravenswood Avenue and Middlefield Road, and the addition of 27 townhomes south of the 100% affordable building;
• The inclusion of community space within the 100% affordable building instead of in a separate community building;
• An approximately 2- to 3-million-gallon emergency water reservoir that would be buried below grade in the northeast area of the project site, in addition to a small pump station, an emergency well, and related improvements that would be built at and below grade (i.e., emergency generator, disinfection system, surge tank). It would be built and operated by the city of Menlo Park;
• A recreational open space area above the potential emergency underground water reservoir;
• A reduction in the underground parking footprint within the site, including removal of the underground parking from the residential buildings and removal of the underground parking connection between two of the office/R&D buildings; and
• An increase in height and square footage of two of the parking garages.

Copies of the Draft EIR and NOA will be available on the City’s website at menlopark.gov/parkline, starting Thursday, June 20, 2024. Printed copies are available for review at the Menlo Park Library at 800 Alma St. and the Belle Haven Library at 100 Terminal Ave. Interested parties should inquire at the library information desk.