Last week I wrote about a couple of project in San Carlos; this week I’m heading the other direction, and writing about two recently completed projects in Menlo Park. I’ve been following them, and writing about them, for quite some time now, and so I thought that, now that they are essentially complete, its time to do a wrap-up post.

The first, if you couldn’t guess by the title of this post, is the Springline project at 1300 El Camino Real in Menlo Park. Springline is a large mixed-use development on a 6.4-acre parcel that, at its onset, was dubbed Station 1300. However, in late 2020, while the project was well underway, the project was sold to a new developer, Presidio Bay Ventures. Presidio Bay renamed, and then completed, the project.

Springline consists of approximately 200,000 square feet of office space split across two buildings that front onto El Camino Real; 183 luxury apartments in a third building that faces the intersection of Oak Grove Avenue and Garwood Way (Garwood Way runs right alongside the Caltrain tracks); and a total of about 29,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space spread across all three buildings. Those three buildings sit atop a 942-space, two-level underground parking garage, and surround some lovely plazas (some private, some public).

Springline’s large central public plaza, which I entered from El Camino Real between the two office buildings, is quite inviting, with its fountains, planers, and scattered places to sit:

From the rear, along Garwood Way, the entrance to the plaza looks like this:

Just to the right of the above photo are two of the development’s small, but extremely useful, amenities: a fenced in dog park (open to the public!), a set of public restrooms.

(The restrooms are in that little tile-roofed structure beyond the dog park.)

With the residences now complete, I was finally able to get a good look into the private plaza that is tucked into the residential building:

And with the construction fences gone, here is what the main entrance to the residential building looks like:

Construction may be complete, but there are still signs of work going on. However, don’t let that stop you: that work is largely being done to fit out the remaining retail spaces for the various restaurants and shops that will be taking up occupancy along El Camino Real and Oak Grove Avenue. As I was delighted to discover, a number of the development’s retail tenants have already opened their doors: today you can visit Proper Food, Andytown Coffee Roasters, Canteen Coffee Shop (along El Camino Real), and Canteen (on the Oak Grove Avenue side). Coming soon are Burma Love restaurant; Barebottle Brewing Company (both a taproom along Oak Grove Avenue, and a brew truck parked in the plaza); Robin; Il Mercato di Che Fico and Che Fico Parco Menlo; and (from Beverly Hills!) Mírame. All in all, it appears to be an incredible lineup that is sure to attract a lot of patrons from not only Menlo Park but surrounding communities as well. I know that my wife and I will certainly be checking some of them out.

When visiting, note that there is public parking available in the underground garage from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. The public garage entrance is from El Camino Real, at the northwesterly end of the development. Note that although there are two garage entrances on Garwood Way, those entrances are, I believe, just for the folks working or living at Springline.

The folks behind Springline seem to be doing a terrific job. Not only have they created a rather attractive mixed-use development, they appear to have leased much, if not all, of the office space and all of the retail spaces. Leasing is now underway for the residential units, which, although somewhat pricey (but in line with what you’d expect to pay in Menlo Park), seem rather nice, if the online photographs are anything to go by.

Contrasting with Springline, we now turn to Middle Plaza, a mixed-use development at the other end of El Camino Real (at Middle Avenue) in Menlo Park that was brought to life by Stanford University. This development sits upon an even larger parcel, one that is 8.4 acres in size. It, too, is built upon a large two-level underground garage, this one designed to accommodate 777 cars. Sere, surface lots along the rear of the development have room for an additional 153 cars, bringing the total number of vehicles that can be accommodated on-site to 930.

Middle Plaza consists of six buildings (three office buildings and three residential buildings) plus the development’s namesake plaza. Pretty much all of the ground floor of the office building adjacent to the plaza has been set aside as retail/restaurant space; I would expect to see a restaurant or two moving in there soon. As yet, though, there is no sign of what might occupy that ground floor space. But the plaza is nice enough, if a bit exposed:

This is a view of the plaza looking away from El Camino Real, towards the Caltrain tracks. And here is what the plaza looks like in the other direction, back towards El Camino Real and the Safeway shopping center across the street:

Finally, there is a pergola-covered area towards the back of the plaza with some nice shaded tables:

As for the office building fronting the plaza (right at El Camino Real and Middle Avenue), it looks like this:

You may note the construction fencing in front of this building; it looks complete, but may still be under construction. Or, it may be that the ground floor is getting fitted out for future restaurant/retail tenants. Either way, I don’t expect that fencing to be up for much longer. Certainly the fencing is gone from the rest of the development.

Because the site is long and narrow, the buildings are basically laid out in a line, with the above office building at the northwest end. Heading towards the Palo Alto border, the three residential buildings come next, followed by the two remaining office buildings. I should note that the development comes close, but doesn’t quite extend to the city line; between Middle Plaza and Menlo Park’s border with Palo Alto is the Stanford Park Hotel, which has been in operation for many years and has nothing to do with this new development.

The development’s residential buildings look quite different from the office buildings, keeping this development from looking like one monolithic whole. As you can see, whereas the offices have a modern Spanish style, the residences borrow from the Craftsman school of design:

Around back (where the surface parking is, and facing the Caltrain tracks), the three residential buildings are a bit less ornate, but still attractive:

As for the remaining office buildings, they, too, have a Spanish look about them:

In the above photo, note the two brick pillars; those mark the driveway entrance into the Stanford Park Hotel, which lies behind the office building you can see here.

In total, Middle Plaza contains 142,840 square feet of non-medical office space, 10,286 square feet of retail/restaurant space, and 215 residential units. But unlike with Springline, don’t expect to see a “leasing” sign on those residential units: they are, I believe reserved for employees of Stanford University. As for the office space, it, too, may be kept for Stanford’s use, although I don’t know that for sure. The plaza, at least, is fully open to the public, as will be any restaurant or retail tenants in the building at El Camino Real and Middle Avenue.

Menlo Park is an interesting, and very oddly-shaped, place. The bulk of its retail shops and restaurants are located near the intersection of El Camino Real and Santa Cruz Avenue, in the neighborhood of where both Springline and Middle Plaza are located. The city’s major office developments — and some of its largest new housing developments — are located a couple of miles to the north, across Highway 101. There is a great deal of construction activity going on out there in that part of Menlo Park right now, but given that it is of a completely different tenor, I’ll save that for a future post. For now, though, have a great weekend! And if you are looking for something to do, might I suggest you check out some of Springline’s newest offerings?