U.S. sanctions involving the son of a former Vladimir Putin ally could threaten plans for a 39-story tower at the former Sunset Magazine headquarters in Menlo Park.
Russian real estate investor Vitaly Yusufov is sanctioned by Ukraine. His father, Igor Yusufov, a former Russian energy minister, is also subject to sanctions from Ukraine and Canada. Forbes has estimated Igor Yusufov’s wealth at roughly $1.1 billion; he is the founder of the investment firm Fund Energy.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control explains that sanctions may restrict people or companies from carrying out certain financial transactions and can result in their assets being frozen.
Some Menlo Park residents are now considering bringing their concerns about Vitaly Yusufov to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the Palo Alto Daily Post reported.
Resident Maria Kleczewska previously urged opponents to continue challenging the 80 Willow project, even if doing so meant incurring substantial legal costs. “This project will be the ruin of our beautiful city,” she said.
Kleczewska also questioned how many residents would lose views of the sky and trees, how many homes could be cast in shadow and how significantly traffic might increase on nearby streets.
Another resident called on opponents to push back against the state attorney general and reject what they described as the developer’s approval deadline, asking, “Who died and made him God?”
Menlo Park Councilmember Drew Combs told the Palo Alto Daily Post that city officials have not reached out to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control or the office of Rep. Sam Liccardo about the possibility of pursuing sanctions against Vitaly Yusufov.
Yusufov bought the seven-acre property at 80 Willow Road in 2019 for $72 million. His proposal envisions 665 apartments, a hotel, office space and a preschool distributed among three towers.
At 461 feet, the tallest of the towers would become the highest building between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The controversial Menlo Park development has also come under review by the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
In a July 27 letter, Bonta’s office alleged that Menlo Park had improperly altered the reasoning it used to reject the development application.
Oisín Heneghan, the developer leading the 80 Willow Road project, responded in an Aug. 3 letter to the City Council, arguing that officials were required to approve the proposal by Oct. 27.
Heneghan and the Attorney General’s Office both pointed to Assembly Bill 712, a California law designed to impose stronger consequences on local governments that do not follow the state’s housing requirements.
The dispute unfolds as federal authorities continue examining the financial networks and political connections of wealthy Russian figures linked to President Vladimir Putin.
