Changes emerge in plans to build village at SRI Menlo Park campus

MENLO PARK — Real estate firm Lane Partners has proposed a change in the proposed redevelopment of the SRI campus in Menlo Park by sharply reducing the project’s commercial space in response to community concerns about daily worker trips.

The Parkline village and neighborhood would replace the SRI complex at 333 Ravenswood Ave. It has been in operation as a research hub for 75 years.

“This plan helps meet Menlo Park’s urgent housing needs, preserves the character of the immediate neighborhood, improves bike and pedestrian safety, and creates a beautiful new shared space for the community to enjoy for decades to come,” said Mark Murray, a principal executive with Lane Partners.

A key change in the proposal involves a decision to reduce the total commercial space to 1 million square feet, a 28% reduction from original plans.

Lane Partners has teamed up with the SRI organization to reimagine the future of the campus.

The current proposal envisions 800 housing units, including a mix of market-rate and affordable apartments and townhomes; 1 million square feet of commercial space; 20 acres of open space to create park-like settings in what would become a new neighborhood; and a system of bike and pedestrian pathways.

“The plan opens up the historically private SRI campus in the heart of Menlo Park’s downtown core for shared community use, replacing existing commercial space with new sustainable buildings, adding significant affordable and market-rate housing, new retail and recreation areas, and creating key open space connectors and walking and biking trails,” Lane Partners stated in a prepared release.

The Parkline neighborhood project is slated to be reviewed by the Menlo Park Planning Commission in late August and the Menlo Park City Council weeks later.

Lane Partners hopes the revamped plan will resolve concerns expressed by the city, community leaders, and project neighbors.

“We are grateful for the years of collaboration and ideation that the community has invested in this plan and its crucial role in the future of Menlo Park,” Murray said. “We’re looking forward to this important milestone and to continuing the conversation around Parkline in the years ahead.”