Facebook's 'Company Town' Looks a Bit Like Smart Growth

Bay Area tech companies are famous for providing their employees all kinds of perks, from free cereal to ball pits. Facebook, though, may be the first to provide housing (or as close as it can get to it). The company recently partnered with St. Anton Partners to fund a $120 million, 10-acre housing development down the street from its headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

The planned complex, designed by architecture firm KTGY Group, is the first major housing development in Menlo Park in 20 years, and is expected to open in 2016. According to Deanna Chow, a senior planner in Menlo Park’s planning department, the city is largely occupied by single-family homes. This 394-unit residential community will be the first mixed-use development of its scale in the city.