The Peninsula Is Liking Facebook's Expansion Plan

Menlo Park city leaders approve Facebook's expansion plan

Who knew liking Facebook would prove to be a financial boon for a Peninsula community?

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Menlo Park city council approved an expansion plan for Facebook during a meeting Tuesday night. Not only will the agreement benefit the social networking giant, but the city will receive millions of dollars as part of the deal. Facebook wants to hire about 6,600 new employees to fill its new 57-acre, 9-building campus located at Bayfront Expressway and Willow Road. he building itself actually isn't new.  It used to be the headquarters of Sun Microsystems.

As part of the deal, Facebook will give Menlo Park $800,000 in payments each of the first  five years.   And then the annual amount will increase to more than $1 million, which includes adjustments to the Consumer Price Index.  A one-time payment of $1.1 million will also be given to Menlo Park for capital improvement projects.

Facebook will also offer $500,000 to help fund community projects for the Belle Haven neighborhood and East Palo Alto. It will also create a jobs training program and internship opportunities for local high school students. Facebook will also participate in improving nearby trails and take part in the Adopt-A-Highway program. It also plans on restoring surrounding wildlife around its campus.

There are plans on the drawing board to build a satellite campus at the former Tyco Electronics site to house several thousand new workers.

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