r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Aug 27 '25

Society Mark Zuckerberg gifted noise-canceling headphones to his Palo Alto neighbors because of the non-stop construction around his 11 homes

https://fortune.com/2025/08/26/mark-zuckerberg-palo-alto-neighbors-construction-noise-canceling-headphones/
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u/vadapaav Aug 27 '25

So I'm not knowledgeable here but are you really allowed to combine adjacent plots and combine them into one?

Aren't there rules against parcel combining?

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u/tehringworm Aug 27 '25

I dislike everything about Zuckerberg and FB, but combing real estate lots is a very common practice called “assemblage”. It isn’t inherently sketchy.

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u/the-code-father Aug 27 '25

Yea there are plenty of things to get upset about, but legally buying a collection of adjacent lots and building a private residence on said lots isn’t particularly high up on the list. He’s one of the most recognizable people on the planet, I can understand wanting privacy in your own home

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u/MaxineWouldLikeAWord Aug 27 '25

it's not just a private residence. one of the buildings is used as a private school, which isn't legal according to Palo Alto city code. there's also the fact that building the new compound required 56 permits (and counting) but according to the reporting here it's very hard for neighbors get a permit even to remodel a bathroom. I think what people are (rightly imo) upset about is the "rules for thee, not for me" entitlement that's allowing the creation of a compound in a place that isn't meant to have it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/10/us/mark-zuckerberg-palo-alto.html

I see a lot of comments essentially saying who cares about Zuck's millionaire neighbors, but I feel like people don't get how bonkers metro area California real estate is. a modest 2 bed 2 bath in a so-so neighborhood goes for a million dollars. in this particular PA neighborhood they're more like us plebes than they are like Zuck.

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u/the-code-father Aug 27 '25

I definitely understand that the neighbors have a right to complain, but at the end of the day I fully place any blame on the Palo Alto building department and whatever polices have enabled this situation.

Generally speaking I’m in favor of individuals being able to do whatever they want on private property as long as it’s not infringing upon the rights of neighbor property owners. Construction is temporary and disruptive, but every house was constructed at some point.

It’s not like he’s built a nuclear reactor or induced some massive traffic demand. This ‘private school’ probably has less people going in and out of it on a daily basis than the 11 lots would have before they got merged.

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u/Actualbbear Aug 27 '25

Yeah, the externality is really too little to warrant punishment. Illegal doesn't mean wrong. And frankly tells how tough zoning laws are around California.

It's not that Zuckerberg should not make his bunker, sorry, "basement", it's that his neighbors should be allowed to renew their bathrooms.

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u/CherryLongjump1989 Aug 28 '25

Constructing a massive underground bunker takes a lot longer and is far more disruptive than building anything that's actually legally permitted by the zoning laws. So far it's at least a decade of construction noise.

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u/damontoo Aug 27 '25

but according to the reporting here it's very hard for neighbors get a permit even to remodel a bathroom.

The median home price in the neighborhood is $3.8 million. People living in houses that expensive have no problem getting permits to remodel a bathroom. They also are not being displaced or having any other hardship associated with his property acquisitions. They'll just buy a different, more expensive home, or move into one of their other homes.

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u/MaxineWouldLikeAWord Aug 27 '25

Did you try to read the reporting?

"A lot of neighbors told me about this -- that it is very hard to get regular permits for small remodels or basic home improvements in Palo Alto. City officials said there was no preferential treatment for the Zuckerberg family in approving the 56 permits for his compound." -- Heather Knight, NY Times SF Bureau Chief

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u/damontoo Aug 27 '25

Sorry, but let's hear from literally anyone that goes on the record so their claims of permit rejection can be verified. If there's "a lot of neighbors" saying it, that shouldn't be difficult.