Enlarge Image Close Facebook Renderings of Facebook's planned Anton Menlo Community housing. 
 
 Facebook Inc.'s sprawling campus in Menlo Park, Calif., is so full of cushy perks that some employees may never want to go home. Soon, they'll have that option. 
 
 The social network said this week it is working with a local developer to build a $120 million, 394-unit housing community within walking distance of its offices. Called Anton Menlo, the 630,000 square-foot rental property will include everything from a sports bar to a doggy day care. 
 
 Facebook Inc.'s sprawling campus in Menlo Park, Calif., is so full of cushy perks that some employees may never want to go home. Soon, they'll have that option. Reed Albergotti has details on Lunch Break. Photo: Facebook 
 
 Even in Silicon Valley, where tech companies compete to lure coveted engineers with over-the-top perks and offices that resemble adult playgrounds, Facebook's plan breaks new ground. 
 
 A Facebook spokeswoman said employee retention wasn't a major factor in the real estate push. "We're certainly excited to have more housing options closer to campus, but we believe that people work at Facebook because what they do is rewarding and they believe in our mission," she said. 
 
 The Facebook Life Amenities for residents of an apartment building Facebook is constructing near its campus: On-site cafe, convenience store, and sports pub 
 
 Bicycle repair shop with onsite storage 
 
 Pet spa with doggy day care, pet walking services, dog park 
 
 Resort-inspired pool, spa and cabana area 
 
 Indoor/outdoor wellness, yoga and training facility with personal training 
 
 Rooftop entertainment deck with three-themed areas 
 
 Some employees had inquired about places to live near the corporate campus, she said, amid a housing shortage in Menlo Park. 
 
 Real estate prices are skyrocketing in Silicon Valley, and in San Francisco, up 24% in the fourth quarter of 2012 in the Bay Area, according to DataQuick, a real-estate data firm. 
 
 The development conjures up memories of so-called "company towns" at the turn of the 20th century, where American factory workers lived in communities owned by their employer and were provided housing, health care, law enforcement, church and just about every other service necessary. 
 
 Spending more time in the clutches of the company sphere isn't necessarily positive. One reason the old company towns eventually disappeared was that they could be overbearing to workers. In the 2013 version, the downside could be unspoken expectations that employees always be working. 
 
 Facebook's plans are still a far cry from those steelworker and mining company towns from a century ago. Facebook employees aren't expected to work there for their entire lives. And the new development can only house a maximum of about 10% of its Menlo Park employees. 
 
 But the move speaks to how competition is reshaping the role of corporate culture in the tech industry. 
 
 "Silicon Valley is in many ways the antithesis of the company town," said Ajay Agrawal, a professor of entrepreneurship at University of Toronto. In today's tech industry, Mr. Agrawal says, employees feel less tied to a company, and more tied to the geographical location and industry. They're more likely to switch companies and collaborate on ideas with people outside their own corporation. 
 
 One of the downsides of the Silicon Valley model, Mr. Agrawal says, is that if companies believe their employees will likely leave, they won't invest as much in their lives or their development. 
 
 "There may be some optimal level between the extreme company town," he says, "and Silicon Valley, where everyone is moving companies." 
 
 To build the housing, Facebook's "amenities team" worked with developer St. Anton Partners, a San Francisco Bay area, multi-family real estate developer, to create an environment that mirrors the atmosphere of its corporate campus, where employees are encouraged to mingle and share ideas. 
 
 Enlarge Image Close Facebook Rendering of path between the apartments and Facebook's campus. 
 
 The apartments will go for market rates, and a handful will be set aside for low income residents. All but 15 of the units will be open to non-Facebook employees. 
 
 "The beauty of this thing is that it's extremely close to our campus," said John Tenanes, Facebook's director of real estate and an architect involved in the planning. "It's a five-minute bike ride" along a dedicated path that runs along the San Francisco bay, he said. "You don't even have to put on the brakes." 
 
 One of Facebook's corporate goals is to take care of as many aspects of its employees lives as possible. They don't have to worry about transportation—there's a bus for that. Laundry and dry cleaning? Check. Hairstylists, woodworking classes, bike maintenance. Check. 
 
 At Facebook, the company's headquarters are supposed to feel more like a college campus than an office. 
 
 The 56-acre parcel, which it moved to in December 2011, will soon be connected to a new wing, designed by architect Frank Gehry. There is a winding asphalt road that runs through the center of campus where employees glide through on bicycles. 
 
 Throughout the workday, programmers bond with advertising product developers over free lattes or ice cream, walking around the sculptures and shops, or lounging on sun-drenched grassy knolls and park benches. 
 
 There is a company game day, where employees run the three-legged race. At night, employees watch movies on a giant, stadium-style outdoor television screen that looms over an open plaza in the middle of campus. 
 
 Lauryn Hale, a Harvard Business School graduate who was hired by Facebook in 2010, said all the amenities take some stress out of the daily job and allow her to think more creatively. 
 
 Her favorite thing to do is have a "walking meeting" with another employee, but only after grabbing a frozen yogurt at the sweet shop. "I probably love that too much" she says. 
 
 Write to Reed Albergotti at reed.albergotti@wsj.com 
 
 A version of this article appeared October 3, 2013, on page B1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Facebook's Company Town. ||||| The 394-unit apartment community, located off of High 101 in Menlo Park, will cater to the all-inclusive expectations of today's tech workers. 
 
 A rendering of the pool and rooftop deck at Anton Menlo, an apartment community being constructed in Facebook's backyard. (Credit: Facebook and St. Anton Partners) 
 
 Want to live, eat, sleep, and breathe Facebook? A new housing development co-commissioned by Facebook and sprouting up in the social network's Menlo Park, Calif., backyard might be just the place to call home. 
 
 Facebook has partnered with developer St. Anton Partners to build Anton Menlo, a 394-unit apartment community on nearly 10 acres of land off of High 101 in Menlo Park. The project, meant to introduce more housing for Bay Area workers, is a redevelopment of industrial land and is the city's first major apartment addition in more than 20 years, according to a Wednesday press release. 
 
 Costing $120 million, Anton Menlo sounds like the perfect abode for the always-on technology worker who is already accustomed to the all-inclusive luxuries provided by top companies. The town-within-a-town, essentially a livable version of Facebook's campus, will include a convenience store, sports bar, cafe, bicycle repair shop, pet spa, yoga facility, resort-style pool and spa, and rooftop deck. 
 
 "Facebook is a strong supporter of its local community and consistently recognized as one of the best places in the world to work. This project advances both goals, by providing our employees an excellent new housing option within walking distance to campus while investing in new housing opportunities in our local community," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET. 
 
 The complex will have 35 studios, 208 one-bedroom units, 139 two-bedroom units, and 12 three-bedroom units. Facebook is subsidizing the cost of 15 of the units to allow for low-income housing. The apartment community will also be open to non-Facebook staffers, though presumably the social network is investing in the housing complex as a convenient place to store its staffers after-hours. 
 
 Those ready to pack their bags and move to Facebook-ville -- or Zuckland, if you will -- will have to be patient. Construction is expected to take at least two years. Demolition will kick off later this month, after the city of Menlo Park signs off on the community's design.
– Facebook already has a swanky campus in Menlo Park, Calif., and soon, it will also have an equally swanky housing community nearby. The social network is working with a developer to build a 394-unit rental community within walking distance of company headquarters, the Wall Street Journal reports. And the 630,000-square-foot "Anton Menlo" certainly sounds like a place anyone would want to call home: Amenities include an on-site cafe and sports pub; a pet spa, dog park, and doggy day care; a yoga and training facility and other wellness services; a resort-like pool, rooftop deck, spa, and cabana; and, of course, a bicycle repair shop. The nearly 10-acre property is a redevelopment of industrial land, CNET reports. A Facebook rep says the $120 million project wasn't designed as an effort to retain employees ("We believe that people work at Facebook because what they do is rewarding and they believe in our mission"), but that some employees had in fact asked for help finding places to live. Real estate prices are going up fast in Silicon Valley, and there's currently a housing shortage in Menlo Park. But the development can only house about 10% of the local employees at most, and most of the units will be open to non-employees as well. The development will include 208 one-bedroom apartments, 139 two-bedrooms, 35 studios, and 12 three-bedrooms; it won't be complete for at least two years. See the Journal for an idea of what Anton Menlo will look like. (Or click for details of the similarly swanky remodel Mark Zuckerberg is doing on his house.)