On weekday mornings in Menlo Oaks, the soundscape is no longer chirping birds and leaf blowers. It’s jackhammers, backhoe beeps, and the steady churn of construction crews tearing into one of Menlo Park’s previously tranquil neighborhoods.
The small, tree-lined enclave is pocked with active job sites. Foundations have been poured where modest ranch homes once stood. The transformation has been swift and, for builders and sellers, wildly lucrative. Home values in Menlo Oaks are at all-time highs, according to Zillow, driven by an influx of luxury developers rebuilding the neighborhood house by house.
The typical home is just shy of $3.2 million, a 4.2% increase over the pandemic-era peak. It’s the biggest price pop across the entire Bay Area. And Menlo Oaks has plenty of company. Of the seven Bay Area neighborhoods currently at their highest-ever values, five are in Menlo Park, according to Zillow’s data.
Santa Cruz Avenue in downtown Menlo Park. | Source: Noah Berger for The Standard
Though Menlo Park contains Meta’s global headquarters, is a hub for VC firms, and borders Stanford University, the city of 33,000 has long been an afterthought in luxury real estate. The slim slice of land sandwiched between Redwood City, Palo Alto, and Atherton offers neither the relative affordability of the former nor the global reputation of the latter two.
The vibe has long been that of a small town in the midst of the country’s hottest tech center, best known for providing a short commute to Silicon Valley jobs and a desirable school district at a 25% discount from Palo Alto. In other words: yawn.
But it seems that Menlo’s moment has arrived: A once-in-a-generation turnover has opened the door for luxury developers, whose lavish new estates are attracting young, rich buyers and providing a shot of adrenaline to the once-sleepy suburb.
Development on the rise
It’s hip to be square, at least for home builders. Menlo’s flat, right-angled lots are easy to build on, and the city’s planning process is fairly straightforward by Bay Area standards. A developer who gets one design approved can build others like it fairly quickly.
Most of the suburb’s housing stock is post-war, meaning demolishing a building won’t bring the same preservationist outrage as tearing down a Victorian.
“The good part about having kind of uninteresting architecture is that no one minds,” said Sotheby’s agent Chris Iverson. “‘Oh, you knocked down a ranch house and built a modern farmhouse? OK.’”
Builders work on a home last month in Central Menlo. | Source: Noah Berger for The StandardMenlo Park’s lots are easy to build on, and the city’s planning process is fairly straightforward. | Source: Noah Berger for The Standard
Iverson recalls that the wave of spec homes — those built by developers without a specific owner in mind — first rose on the city’s west side, near Woodside, about two decades ago. Builders would offer longtime owners an eye-popping price for their homes, raze them, and construct something twice the size, with the modern features today’s buyers want: en-suite bedrooms, bigger kitchens and bathrooms, and more than one floor. The wave swept eastward through Central Menlo and has continued ever since.
As soon as one developer breaks an established price ceiling, others swarm. So when that pricing phenomenon hit Menlo, homebuilders’ interest accelerated. They have been met by a swath of baby boomers looking to cash out.
A decade ago, there were around 10 spec developers operating in town. Now there are about 30, said Christie’s International Sereno agent Kristin Cashin, who is based in Menlo Park.
Not every project starts with a bulldozer. Cashin said one young developer recently bought a home near the edge of Menlo Oaks for a “really reasonable price” and kept the original structure but upgraded the kitchen and electrical and plumbing systems and added a few hundred square feet.
“When you have enough money, you can pay for ease,” Kashin said. “Something with 1950s plumbing, or even 1980s plumbing, is not going to appeal to most people.”
50 homes and counting
One of the companies building in this new era is Thomas James Homes. The Orange County developer operates in approximately 85 markets, but Menlo Park was one of the first, according to Adam Kates, president of the Northern California division.
The math was simple. The proximity to Silicon Valley, Stanford, and Sand Hill Road, plus the upward demand for newly built housing, made it a no-brainer.
TJH delivered its first Menlo Park homes in 2020. Since then, it has built more than 50 across the city.
Its blueprint followed that of other developers: Buy a small, dated home on an underutilized lot and build back bigger and better.
In September 2024, TJH purchased a 1950s West Menlo ranch home for $4.125 million from a family that had bought it for $300,000 in 1983, according to property records. The company transformed the modest, 2,100-square-foot home into a 3,500-square-foot property with five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a large living room, and a gourmet kitchen, plus an ADU. TJH sold the property in October for $7.15 million.
More than half of the company’s projects in Menlo Park have ADUs, a feature that’s attractive to young families who want the flexibility to house grandparents or an au pair.
New construction next to a classic Cape Cod home in Menlo Oaks. | Source: Noah Berger for The Standard
Kates declined to comment on how much TJH spends per square foot or typical returns on a Menlo house but said the company is bullish on the city.
“With continued AI-driven wealth creation and investment in the region, TJH remains optimistic about sustained demand and long-term home value trends,” he said.
The new homes are being filled by first-time buyers and young families who go out on weekends and crave trendy places to eat. Cyrus Sanandaji has seen the change first-hand since his development firm, Presidio Bay Ventures, opened its Springline mixed-use apartment and office complex just off El Camino Real in 2023.
Events at Springline’s central plaza bring an energy that makes the city feel more vibrant. | Source: Erin Ashford
The demographic shift; Springline’s importation of San Francisco brands like Burma Love, Che Fico, and Barebottle Brewing; plus cultural events at the Guild Theatre, bring a “daily energy” that makes the city feel vibrant well beyond the workday.
Menlo Park’s appeal isn’t about stepping out of neighboring cities’ shadows, he said. It’s about the slow work — by residents, builders, and city leaders — that has turned it into one of the Peninsula’s most livable places.
“We’re seeing more younger couples and families engaging with the city in ways that feel new,” he said. “There’s a growing conversation around how to make Menlo Park a more holistic, live-work-play community, and that shift in mindset is very real.”
