Stanford Changes El Camino Real Project

Stanford University officials confirmed on Monday that plans for a strip of El Camino Real in Menlo Park have substantially changed, after rounds of negotiations with a City Council subcommittee.

This is the second time that the project has evolved this year. Stanford’s original plan was to convert the land between 300-550 El Camino Real into a mix of buildings that would be used for retail, medical, and housing.

Menlo Park residents did not hesitate to share their concerns with City Council en masse. Many of them affiliated with a group called Save Menlo Park said that the project would dramatically increase the amount of traffic on the roads and reduce the quality of life in Menlo Park.

The original plan would have created 229,500 square feet of office space and 203,700 square feet of housing on the land, which was formerly a car lot. It is currently a blighted strip of asphalt upon which empty buildings sit.  

A few months ago, Stanford University reduced the amount of office space in the plan by 30,000 square feet, which in turn was supposed to reduce the amount of daily car trips on the road by 35%.  

On Monday, the City Council subcommittee reported back to City Council that Stanford University agreed to eliminate all medical offices from the project. 

A spokesperson for Stanford University confirmed this, as well as the fact that the University will be making a “substantial contribution for a bike/pedestrian tunnel that will go from under the development’s center plaza under the railroad tracks to the city’s Burgess Park.” The amount has not been determined.

Stanford representatives will be working with the City of Menlo Park to design the Middle Avenue plaza with the goal of making it safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and cars to navigate the area.

The University has also agreed to pay for the traffic study that’s being done on El Camino Real and the nearby areas.