MENLO PARK, CA—The Bohannon Development Company has chosen Ensemble Hotel Partners to develop a new luxury hotel planned for the Menlo Gateway site. Ensemble Hotel Partners is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ensemble Investments, a privately-held firm specializing in commercial real estate investment, development, and management.

“We are delighted to partner with Bohannon Development Company in the Menlo Gateway project,” said Brian Ehrlich, chief investment officer for Ensemble Hotel Partners. “Each of our projects is designed specifically for the community where it's located. We will be working very closely with the Bohannon team to develop a hotel with the creativity and high quality that will help establish Menlo Park as the gateway to Silicon Valley.”

The new hotel will be a unique, upscale, independent hotel designed to reflect the personality of Menlo Park. It will be part of Marriott's Autograph Collection, an ensemble of independent hotels of high quality design, bold originality, rich character and uncommon details. Designed by Cuningham Group Architecture, the hotel will feature 250 rooms, a chef-driven specialty restaurant, lobby and poolside lounges, an oversized fitness center, and more than 15,000 square feet of highly configurable meeting and event space. Unique among hotels on the Peninsula will be the hotel's outdoor event area, which has been carefully designed for wedding, reunion, business, and other social events.

Because the new hotel will feature more upscale guest rooms than originally envisioned, it is anticipated that the City of Menlo Park will generate an additional $1.2 million in occupancy tax revenue per year than previously projected. The hotel is expected to open by 2018.

The hotel is the cornerstone element of a plan for the Menlo Gateway project. Menlo Gateway will redevelop 16 acres of industrial land east of Highway 101, ideally situated by the San Francisco Bay between San Jose to the south and San Francisco to the north. In addition to the hotel, Menlo Gateway includes three office buildings and accompanying parking structures, together with outdoor amenities.

Bohannon Development also disclosed that it has retained a new architectural firm for the project's office buildings. Heller Manus Architects, an internationally recognized San Francisco-based architecture and urban design firm, has redesigned the office buildings to create a distinctive, sophisticated visual profile based on sustainable principles.

“The Menlo Gateway project represents the type of assignment that demands a unique solution,” said Jeffrey Heller, president of Heller Manus Architects. “Just as its location represents a gateway to an exciting revitalized area of the city and to the greater Silicon Valley, its visual signature will be iconic as well.”

In addition to a new look and the new hotel, Menlo Gateway will feature more pedestrian paths and bike lanes within the complex than originally designed. The project will offer easy access for local employees, convenience for hotel guests, and greater incentives for businesses to access the area's top talent. All portions of Menlo Gateway will meet or exceed LEED standards for sustainability.

“With the partnership of the Ensemble Hotel Group and Heller Manus Architects, we are excited to begin transforming this dated industrial park into a thriving destination within Menlo Park,” said David Bohannon of the Bohannon Development Company. “As the City of Menlo Park updates its general plan and considers revitalizing the entire area east of Highway 101, Menlo Gateway will become an integral part of the vibrant, mixed-use urban village they envision. The new district will combine the essence of Silicon Valley's creative technology spirit with the tremendous heritage of Menlo Park's venture capital, legal, and intellectual assets—perfectly appropriate for the information age we live in.”

The Bohannon Development Company is a family-owned development and operating company that has owned property and invested in the Peninsula since 1930. Its early commercial development activities included the Hillsdale Shopping Center in 1941.

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Hotel Planned for Menlo Gateway

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