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BILLIONS OF PEOPLE spend a lot of time living their lives on Facebook’s social network. Now Facebook wants to try its hand at creating a community in the real world.
The internet giant wants to build housing, retail stores, a hotel and more at its corporate headquarters — in short, Facebook wants to build its own town.
Facebook unveiled plans on Thursday for the massive new construction project at its Menlo Park, California corporate campus, which is part of Facebook’s plans to expand its home base.
The 56-acre site, which Facebook bought in 2015 for about $400 million, is located directly across the street from Facebook’s headquarters. It will offer 1.6 million square feet of housing, or 1,500 units.
In a blog post announcing the plans, Facebook described the future development as a “mixed-use village” that will provide residents, many of which will be Facebook employees, with housing, transportation services and other amenities.
“We plan to build 125,000 square feet of new retail space, including a grocery store, pharmacy and additional community-facing retail,” Facebook said.
The new development will also include a hotel, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
https://www.facebook.com/fbcommunity/videos/689598231238233/
It will take roughly a decade to build, according to a person familiar with the plans.
The initial phase of the project, which will include the housing and grocery store, will be wrapped up in the first half of 2021. The subsequent phases will be completed every two years.
While most of the housing will likely go to Facebook employees, Facebook is opening up the housing to the community at large. The housing will be a mix of market rate and affordable housing units, with 225 units, or 15%, priced below market rate.
“Part of our vision is to create a neighborhood centre that provides long-needed community services,” Facebook wrote.
One benefit of having employees live so close to campus is a reduction in the amount of traffic in the area, according to the blog post.
While Facebook has presented the plans to the City of Menlo Park, they have not yet been approved. The company expects the approval process to take about two years.
Business Insider- Avery Hartmans
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Imagine the d*ckheads that would live in this town? Beards, retro dark rimmed glasses, cycling around on mini scooters eating tofu with pet hamsters in baskets
@Fergus Sheahan: What difference does it make to you how others want to live?
@Kal Ipers: what difference does it make to you how I think others should want to live?
@Fergus Sheahan: Answering a question with a question isn’t an answer. Simply any aggression towards anybody else because they aren’t like you is pretty pathetic.
@Kal Ipers: The irony…
@Kal Ipers: but you answered my original question with a question..are you pretty pathetic? Is it ok that i asked another question??
@Fergus Sheahan: Adding a question mark doesn’t make it magically a question. The same way people don’t understand irony. Note you still haven’t answered
What type of hamster does he have ?
@Nigel Sheehan: is that a question because there’s a massive claim on this thread that question marks don’t mean questions? (This is a question)
@Nigel Sheehan: I was wondering what kind of basket could fit a hamster and a hipster and still leave room for a serving of tofu
@Fergus Sheahan: you’re the one that forced your narrow view on the rest of us. But you object to us now questioning it.
@Chris Linehan: There is no massive claim that question marks don’t mean a question. There is simply the point that adding a question mark doesn’t mean the preceding sentence is a question.
@Kal Ipers: it’s nearly lunchtime why don’t you have an ironic jam sandwich, de fog your retro glasses and take your hamster Earl for a trip on your scooter
@Fergus Sheahan: you mean Sth William Street!
@Fergus Sheahan: Tofu and hamster sounds wonderful, with or without Mayo lol.
This honestly just sounds abhorrent. Let’s hope it never happens. The book 1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual.
@AdijazzJohnson: You do know this is not new and was in place well before the book was ever written? Companies have done this all over the world. Bournville being an noticible example.
@Kal Ipers: Globex done it too.
@AdijazzJohnson: ” and I sold my soul to the company store”
And Guinness
Imagine the amount of the graffiti in that town, with everyone writing on each other’s walls.
@Scundered: Full on poking in the cafe queue.
@Scundered: Peeing on them anyway lol.
Welcome to the Globex Corporation. Wonder will they have a hammock district?
@David Mitchell:
Scorpio!
He’ll sting you with his dreams of power and wealth.
Beware of Scorpio!
His twisted twin obsessions are his plot to rule the world.
And his employees’ health.
He’ll welcome you into his lair.
Like the nobleman welcomes his guest.
With free dental care and a stock plan that helps you invest!
Plus three weeks paid vacation each yearAnd on Fridays, the lunchroom serves hot dogs and burgers and beer!
He loves German beer!
@Joe Bloggs: You know, there’s a little place called Mary Ann’s Hammocks. The nice thing about that place is Mary Ann gets in the hammock with you.
The cult of Zuckerburg gathers pace…
@Carlos Bandanas: I’ll wait until he starts to build the space ship to take us all to the new world …. Faceworld!
Very good idea. If we had any imagination we would allow Facebook to build their own town on a rail line somewhere in the Greater Dublin area, maybe in Kildare or North County Dublin. Would be a massive help to the cost of rent in the city centre.
@Fred Jensen: Nothing new in this idea. Cadbury built a whole town for their employees.
Rail companies, Guinness, and others built houses for employees.
Great idea. Facebook could build houses for their employees in the docklands area.
@Fred Jensen: Build Facebook city, high walls around it – then put all Facebook freaks inside and close the gates !!
Coughcoughcoughblackmirrorcoughcoughcough
@dampsquid: think you should see a doctor bout that fierce bad cough
I would hope that most people would have a life outside of work that has nothing to do with their jobs, and hopefully they would not turn into the company zombies or work slaves that Facebook or ucd (see previous sponsored article) seem to want them to do!
15% below market price . Which should be around 1 million mark, real affordable for someone working at Facebook
@marty johnbann: Facebook heading into the mortgage market. Your wages this week was $1,000. Less tax, $600. Less facebook mortgage. That’s $200. Mr Murphy, you’re fired, and now homeless too!
Faceworld.
Nothing new about this to be fair. There are neighbourhoods & towns all over the world that were built specifically for employees of factories.
@Michael O’Toole: Disney?
Anyone watch the Circle? Cause this is sounding like its going in the same direction with the whole live on campus business…
@Siobhan McKenna: Emma Watson proving she can’t act and a terrible ham fisted script. Picking one very small similarity doesn’t make them the same
Would I be barred from the town if I didn’t sign up for facebook ?
Big deal ,nothing new about this idea .
It’ll end up like this place…
http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Cypress_Creek
I’d love to visit the hammock district :P
@marty: the place where they turn the homeless people into post boxes.
Why does this remind of the film Idiocracy?
@SteveW: Because you didn’t understand the film
Jim Jones tried the same thing. Didn’t work.
Sound very scary kind of like “Stepford wives “job meet “the Village ” creepy to say the least
Should just buy a country, Greece or some basket case
When you go into the corner shop, it’ll suggest the things you had 4 years ago and expect you to swallow it all over again.
I’ve seen the film, it was called Moonraker?
Called Stepfordville…
Fakenewsville?
have your say