Facebook proposes campus expansion, pledges millions to Menlo Park

The Menlo Park City Council will consider Tuesday a proposal by Facebook to expand its headquarters, which includes a pledge to allocate millions of dollars generated by the project to tackling the area’s traffic and affordable housing issues.

Facebook plans to add 126,000 square feet of commercial space to its complex, which already stretches from the Belle Haven neighborhood to the bay.

In addition to offices, the social networking company also plans to build a hotel, which it promised will yield at least $1.25 million per year for the city in taxes.

John Tenanes, Facebook’s vice president of global facilities and real estate, said the proposal reflects efforts to be a good corporate citizen.

Facebook committed to a program in Belle Haven that would subsidize rents for 22 units for five years in an effort to make housing more affordable to teachers, firefighters and other service workers.

“Giving money doesn’t really solve the problem or address the issues of social justice,” said Cynthia Cruz, program director at Envision Transform Build East Palo Alto, a coalition dedicated to helping displaced residents in that city, which is close to Facebook headquarters.

Facebook wants to take another look at transportation options, including possibly restoring the long-closed Dumbarton rail line across the Bay.

“It’s exciting to see them look for solutions for a corridor that’s heavily impacting them,” said Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Transportation Sustainability Research Center.