Facebook and Google Address Affordable Housing Concerns

Jul 10, 2017

Two of Silicon Valley’s most powerful companies are placing a new focus on providing affordable housing options in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.

According to a CNBC report, Facebook plans to create a new community called Willow Campus on its 56-acre Menlo Science & Technology Park property. The community will include a grocery store, shopping center and pharmacy, along with 1,500 new housing units—of which 15 percent will be priced below market-rate. Facebook plans to open the community to both its employees and the wider population.

Separately, Google’s parent company Alphabet announced plans to spend $30 million on temporary, prefab housing for 300 of its employees. The modular housing will be built and shipped in from a start-up called Factor OS; Alphabet opted to use this approach because existing housing prices became too expensive. Alphabet did not confirm whether it will follow Facebook’s lead in setting aside a percentage of units at below-market rates.

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Phil Hall

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Jul 10, 2017

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