The Future Of Downtown Public Parking
For two years, Menlo Park residents and local businesses have worried about how the Downtown Project could affect the future amount and convenience of public parking after the project was completed. That is, how many of the existing 556 parking spaces would be replaced and where would these be located.
But it is also important to understand what public parking would be available during three or more years of expected construction activities on the three plazas especially because these will often overlap.
Major Concern #1: The City has neither acknowledged the huge expected loss of public parking – especially during construction – nor the disastrous impact this would have on downtown business owners and their customers.
.
Major Concern #2: The City Council could make poor parking conditions even worse after the November election when voters have no way to stop it.
Loss of public parking after the project is completed
- Since January 2024, the Council has assured our community that all 556 existing spaces would be replaced.
. - However, in September 2025, the Council changed this requirement to a Project “priority”.
. - The City has known the Project is financially infeasible since December 2025 when it received developer proposals.
. - The City could reduce the developer’s current funding gaps by reducing the number of public spaces.
. - The City Council could reduce the amount of required public parking after the November election.
. - The City has claimed that parking management solutions would allow new households to share public parking spaces.
. - The impact of sharing public parking spaces would depend on the ratio of resident parking spaces per household, but the City has not validated the two developers’ assumptions. If these are too low, the negative impacts on downtown visitors would be too high.
Loss of public parking loss during actual construction
- The City has NOT published any information about the loss of public parking during construction activities on the three sites.
‘ - The Alliant Communities proposal reveals the public parking losses would be large and prolonged.
‘ - The Related-Alta proposal has a less but still significant parking loss of 212 spaces for at least 18 months at the front end. However, the centralized parking 9-story tower is much less convenient.
Alliant Construction Schedule
Alliant Public Parking Loss
- Alliant’s overall construction schedule lasts more than 3 years (best case).
. - Construction activities on the three housing sites overlap significantly.
. - NET IMPACT: 307 spaces are lost in the first six months of Year 1, and all 556 spaces are lost by the first half of Year 2. Then, 256 spaces are replaced in the first quarter of Year 3, and the remaining 300 spaces are replaced in the first quarter of Year 4.
. - This parking loss would be disastrous for downtown business owners and their customers.
. - There are a total of 1183 public parking spaces in downtown parking lots so the loss of as many as 556 spaces (47%!) for long periods would inevitably lead to business closures, discourage new entrants and create new persistent downtown vacancies.
. - During business hours, the demand for public parking spaces in lots south of Santa Cruz Avenue would likely far exceed the supply (627) and discourage visitors.
. - Alliant has assumed only 182 resident parking spaces are needed for 345 households – a ratio of 0.5 spaces per household. That seems too low.
.
Related CA – Alta Construction Schedule & Public Parking Loss
Unlike Alliant, this developer would consolidate public parking in a single nine-story parking structure on Plaza 3. While the loss of public parking would be a lot less than Alliant’s, a central public parking location at one end of Santa Cruz Avenue on Plaza 3 would be viewed as inconvenient by customers who typically make “quick stops” in downtown.
- The parking structure would be constructed first.
. - Net IMPACT: 212 spaces lost for 18 months (note: is this short schedule realistic?)