Menlo Park Measure P Trails as Portola Valley Backs Measure N

Voters in two San Mateo County municipalities rendered contrasting verdicts on local land-use and fiscal ballot measures in preliminary Tuesday night returns, while a stalled $15 million historic sandstone adaptive-reuse project in Michigan returned to the commercial real estate market for $1.2 million.

Menlo Park Measure P Narrowly Trails by 232 Votes in Early Returns

In Menlo Park, citizen initiative Measure P—which would require voter approval before redeveloping eight city-owned downtown parking lots—narrowly trailed with 52% voting No (2,886 votes) and 48% voting Yes (2,668 votes), a margin of 232 votes as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, according to reporter Arden Margulis in The Almanac. The preliminary tally covers only mail-in ballots received by Sunday, Nov. 1, with vote center ballots released hourly starting at 9 p.m. and postmarked mail-in ballots received by Nov. 10 reported daily beginning Nov. 5.

Measure P was placed on the Nov. 3 ballot by Save Downtown Menlo, a coalition of residents and businesses opposing the city's state-mandated housing element plan to build affordable housing on three downtown parking lots. Opponents of Measure P, including organizer Karen Grove—who gathered with A.B. Schlaepfer, Will Ousler, Meredith Bergin Bailey, and Evan Bergin Bailey at a No on Measure P watch party at Mama Coco's restaurant—warned that passing the initiative could decertify Menlo Park's housing element and trigger builder's remedy penalties. Save Downtown Menlo and Measure P proponent Alex Beltramo argued the city could instead amend its housing element under an alternative backed by District 4 City Council candidate Laura Melahn to subsidize below-market-rate housing at the former SRI International and U.S. Geological Survey campuses. Since the California Secretary of State began tracking local measures in 1995, both prior Menlo Park development initiatives failed—Measure V in 2022 (38.17% Yes) and Measure M in 2014 (38.70% Yes)—while employee pension Measure L passed with 71.33% in 2010.

Portola Valley Voters Back Charter Town Transfer Tax Measure N with 64%

In neighboring Portola Valley, Measure N led with 64% of the vote as of 8:10 p.m. on election night from mail-in ballots received by Nov. 1, according to reporter Jennifer Yoshikoshi in The Almanac. Placed unanimously on the Nov. 3 ballot by the Portola Valley Town Council, Measure N makes Portola Valley a charter town and authorizes a real property transfer tax of $10 per $1,000 of a property's sale price.

Mayor Craig Taylor welcomed the 64% lead, noting that Portola Valley faces a $700,000 annual budget deficit that is projected to grow. Town staff explained that becoming a charter town preserves local zoning and planning autonomy from San Mateo County while funding storm drain maintenance, vegetation management, wildfire prevention, and San Mateo County Sheriff's Office policing.

Muskegon's 1892 Hackley Administration Building Listed for $1.2 Million

Across the country in Muskegon, Michigan, Core Realty Partners listed the historic 1892 Hackley Administration Building at 349 W. Webster Ave. for $1.2 million on Wednesday, Nov. 4, after a planned $15 million luxury boutique hotel conversion stalled due to warped roof trusses and structural wall displacement, according to Hoodline. Built in 1892 with funds donated by philanthropist Charles Hackley and vacated by Muskegon Public Schools in 2020 (after earlier 2017 reuse proposals involving Muskegon City Hall and Lakeshore Museum Center executive director Annoesjka Soler), the sandstone landmark was purchased for $1 in 2021 by Wheelfish Group founders Brad and Kathleen Playford. Wheelfish planned a 47-room (or 45-room in a 2024 city release for fall 2025) "Hackley Castle" hotel with a speakeasy bar, restaurant, and spa by summer 2026, and spent roughly $4 million installing basement-to-roof steel support beams in exterior work and stripping the interior to the studs before Wheelfish's Joe Keck announced the $1.2 million listing. Elsewhere in Muskegon, Samaritas is converting the historic Froebel School into 46 affordable housing units in a $15 million project for spring 2028, while Fortna Group is investing $6 million to turn a nearly 100-year-old downtown building into a global engineering hub for 80 employees.