The son of a Russian oligarch aligned with Vladimir Putin is suing the wealthy Bay Area suburb of Menlo Park after city officials rejected his proposal for a vast skyscraper complex in the middle of the quiet community.
N17, the developer behind the proposed 80 Willow Road project, filed a lawsuit against Menlo Park on Friday, days after the city denied the controversial mixed-use development planned for a 6.7-acre site.
The project is owned by Vitaly Yusufov, the son of former Russian Energy Minister Igor Yusufov. He hired N17 to manage the project’s planning, applications and any potential legal action against the city.
“While its elected officials have talked a good game, Menlo Park is actually one of the most hostile cities to building new and affordable housing in the nation,” Oisín Heneghan, N17’s founder, said in a press release.
“We regret having to bring this lawsuit, but we had no choice given the city has done nothing but throw roadblocks in our way to delay and deny the project, arrogantly breaking state housing laws,” he added.
The Menlo Park City Council formally rejected the proposal Tuesday, despite a warning from California Attorney General Rob Bonta that the city was violating state housing laws by delaying the plans.
Menlo Park Mayor Betsy Nash countered that the development would worsen problems the affluent Silicon Valley city is already struggling to address.
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“This massive commercial development would severely compound infrastructure challenges in Menlo Park, endanger emergency services response times, and exacerbate the existing jobs/housing imbalance. The project does not deliver the housing that Menlo Park needs, contrary to the very purpose of the builder’s remedy law,” Nash said.
Menlo Park responded to Bonta on Thursday, saying it remained “confident that it has processed the Application in accordance with all applicable state laws.”
The city’s decision followed months of intense opposition from residents, who have resisted plans to reshape their relatively tranquil suburb with a sprawling complex containing 665 homes and 332,000 square feet of office space.
The proposal also includes three high-rise buildings standing between 301 and 458 feet tall—structures that would dramatically alter Menlo Park’s skyline.
Menlo Forward, a group created to oppose the project, said the “environmental impact of such an immense project right next to the San Francisquito Creek cannot be ignored.”
The development would ordinarily violate Menlo Park’s building codes. However, the city failed to submit its required housing plan, enabling Yusufov to invoke California’s Builder’s Remedy and advance the proposal despite local zoning restrictions.
