Zuckerberg gifts neighbors as Palo Alto expansion draws scrutiny

Mark Zuckerberg handed noisecanceling headphones to neighbors in Palo Alto as part of a series of gestures aimed at easing longrunning tensions tied to extensive construction and expansion of his residential holdings, neighbors and local officials say. The gifts, which also included bottles of sparkling wine, chocolates and doughnuts, come amid more than a decade of property acquisitions and nearly eight years of nearcontinuous work that residents say has transformed the Crescent Park neighborhood into a zone of construction equipment, heavy security and frequent private events.

Zuckerberg has spent more than 110 million on at least 11 properties in the neighborhood over the past 14 years, converting multiple houses into a compound that now includes guest homes, gardens, a pickleball court, a pool with a hydrofloor and, for a time, an offthebooks private school for his children and several others. Work beneath the properties has added roughly 7,000 square feet of subterranean space described by residents as basements but characterized by some neighbors as more bunkerlike. Similar large underground construction has been reported on his estate in Hawaii.