Meta Gives Up on $1 Billion Affordable Housing Plan

Meta has seemingly given up on its $1 billion affordable housing plan in the South Bay Area.

The tech giant has pulled back from its efforts to bring affordable housing to Menlo Park, The Mercury News reported. The company, headquartered at 1 Hacker Way, has slowly pared down the team overlooking the operation in recent years to the point where it now doesn’t exist.

In 2019, Meta announced it would help alleviate the Bay Area’s home shortage through a series of housing funds and grants. The 10-year plan called for spending $225 million on land and using $193 million of the remaining $775 million to fund new construction.

It came to a halt in November 2022 when executives ended the funding that would’ve directly gone to building affordable housing. Anonymous Meta associates told The Mercury News the housing team was then cut down to one person; that employee was laid off in 2023.

The Mark Zuckerberg-led conglomerate denied that it has walked away from its housing pursuits and insisted it will continue to invest in housing over the proposal’s lifespan through 2029. Financial documents reviewed by The Mercury News and behind-the-scenes accounts, however, tell a different story, as it appears little has been done since late 2022.

“As an active partner in addressing the region’s housing shortage, Meta has made significant investments in affordable housing development, teacher housing, grant funding, housing policy support, land development and modular housing,” Tracy Clayton, a spokesperson for Meta, said in a statement. “There is still much work ahead, but we are proud to join individuals and organizations who started working on these issues long before Meta existed.”

The company hasn’t eliminated its pledge to build on $225 million of land in Menlo Park.

In 2022, the Menlo Park City Council approved the proposal for the planned community of Willow Village, though new roads, a power station and a fire station still need to be built before any housing can go up.

If completed, Willow Village would include 1,730 homes, 312 of which would be affordable; 1.6 million square feet of offices; 200,000 square feet of retail; a 193-room hotel; a grocery store; and 7 acres of outdoor parks.

A city spokesperson said Meta has not provided a construction timeline for the project.

— Chris Malone Méndez