Facebook's Luxury Housing Complex Is a Great Way to Never Leave WorkFacebook is building a 394-unit luxury housing complex within walking distance of its Menlo Park headquarters. But would you want to live with your coworkers?
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Imagine working long hours in Silicon Valley day after day, only to go home and find your coworkers waiting for you.
If that sounds like a nightmare to you, don't feel bad; you aren't the only one. But if it sounds instead like an exciting way to build camaraderie and continue brainstorming with colleagues long after closing time, then Facebook has just the thing: a new housing complex within walking distance of its California headquarters.
Facebook is working with St. Anton Partners, a San Francisco-based real-estate developer, to create a 394-unit luxury apartment community in Menlo Park, complete with its own sports bar, gym facilities and bicycle repair shop. Demolition is scheduled to begin later this month, with the property ready to accept tenants in the fall of 2015.
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It has long been understood that tech giants such as Facebook and Google provide attractive perks -- from free food in the company cafeteria to foosball tables and fitness equipment -- not only to attract talented employees but to keep those employees at the office, where they will, presumably, do work. Anton Menlo, the $120 million housing complex, looks like the ultimate extension of this logic.
"Anton Menlo has everything the young professional could want to complement their busy lifestyle," said Keith Labus, an architect with KTGY Group, the firm thatdesigned the complex, in a news release.
Facebook's 56-acre campus itself is filled with amenities designed to make life easier for employees. There are coffee and sweet shops, laundry service and movie nights.
One thing that sets the Anton Menlo complex apart is that its units will be open to everyone, not just Facebook employees. In fact, only 15 units will beset asidefor Facebook employees,The Wall Street Journalreports. Another 15 will be offered at below market rate, with rent control, as part of an agreement with the city to provide affordable housing. The rest will be up for grabs.
"Providing new housing opportunities for employees working in the area will allow people to live where they work and to spend more time enjoying this great city," Peter Ohtaki, mayor of Menlo Park, said in the release.
Would you consider living in the same housing complex as a bunch of your coworkers? Why or why not?Let us know in the comments below, or tweet at us@EntMagazine.
