A sizable mixed-use real estate development may spell the end for the former Sunset Magazine campus in Menlo Park, Silicon Valley. According to SFGate, developer Oisin Heneghan of N17 Development submitted plans for a sprawling project that would include 800 to 1,150 apartments, 150 hotel rooms, over 50,000 square feet of office space, and 840,000 square feet of retail space on the 7-acre site, replacing 1950s-era ranch buildings.
An earlier report from Palo Alto's Daily Post revealed that the ambitious development envisions four buildings, with the tallest one reaching up to 300 feet - higher than Stanford University's iconic Hoover Tower. However, the development could face a tough battle, as the Sunset Magazine campus was designed by renowned architect Cliff May, also known as "the father of the ranch house," and landscape design by Thomas Church, responsible for multiple famous Bay Area gardens.
According to San Francisco YIMBY, to allow for his development, Heneghan is using the "builder's remedy," which enables housing projects to bypass local zoning laws as long as a certain percentage of the housing units are designated as affordable.
Beyond the architectural and historical significance of the Sunset Magazine campus, the land itself poses challenges for development as it might be "potentially sensitive" due to Native American artifacts found near the property along San Francisquito Creek.
The Sunset Magazine headquarters, established in 1951 under architect Cliff May, has remained vacant since the magazine moved to Oakland's Jack London Square in 2015.
