Facebook is developing its own city near Silicon Valley HQ

Facebook is expanding its social media empire by developing its own city right next to its Silicon Valley headquarters. 

Mark Zuckerberg's social network, which has 2.9 billion users, is now planning to build a real life community called Willow Park on a 59-acre site in Menlo Park, California.

Facebook and Signature Development Group are behind the proposed plans for the new city. 

The most recent plans, which were updated in May, show the development will be built where a single-use industrial and warehouse complex currently stands.

Facebook already owns several of the existing buildings on the site. 

It will feature 1,729 apartments, including about 320 that will be affordable housing and up to 120 units designated for senior housing. 

The city will be built between Belle Haven and East Palo Alto, which is a heavily populated Hispanic neighborhood. 

The housing units will not be exclusively for Facebook employees. 

A number of the non-affordable housing units, however, will likely be taken up by Facebook employees. The company made headlines several years ago when they started offering staff more money if they lived within 10 miles of the campus. 

The plans for the new city also feature a supermarket, pharmacy, cafes and restaurants and a 193-room hotel.

The 200,000 square feet of planned retail space will be built around a 1.5-acre town square.

Separate to the town square will be a four-acre public park, a two-acre elevated park similar to New York City's High Line and other public open spaces.  

In addition to the housing and retail spaces, Facebook also plans to have 1.25 million square feet of new office, meeting and conference room space for the social media company.