The developer behind the Parkline project, a large mixed-use revamp of the SRI International research facility in Menlo Park, is doing an outreach tour for residents to weigh in on plans to build housing, new offices and public open space on the campus.

The developer, Lane Partners, held events on July 13 and 16 to reach out to concerned community members regarding architectural styles, community amenities and housing density.

The meetings gave residents a chance to weigh in on one of three options, with a menu of preferred public amenities. Attendees heavily favored food trucks at Parkline, along with an interest in a soccer field, event lawn and exercise stations.

"It's better to try to understand what people think early on in the process," said Mark Murray, principal of Lane Partners. "It's a really engaged community. We've had good attendance and a lot of constructive feedback that we can use."

Questions related to architectural style only applied to the commercial buildings, while lead architect Thomas Yee said that the housing style would be inspired by the "roots" of Menlo Park. The current project design shows residential buildings as tall as six stories for a total of 400 to 600 units. One building would be all-affordable housing.

"This is a community that cares a lot about affordable housing," Murray said. "We've heard that from so many people that they care about other folks in the community having adequate housing, which is really great."

The Parkline project also has a focus on sustainability, according to the developer. Water usage would be significantly reduced, and one of three remaining SRI buildings would be fully electric. Through the revamp and new development on the campus, open space would make up 48% of the property, up from just 10% today.

"If you look on Google Earth, at the existing conditions, this is like a sea of asphalt and rooftops and we're basically taking down 35 buildings and replacing them with five buildings," Murray said. "You're really kind of shaping up a new neighborhood that'll be kind of characterized by open space and green space."

Parkline plans to upload the outreach exercises to its website, and its community survey can be found at here.