The Prequel: In January of 2006 the Bradley Planning Group was founded by Geoff & Heather Bradley as a city planning consulting firm. Our first contracts were with the Cities of Cupertino and Mountain View and a due diligence project for a local housing developer. From there the Bradley Planning Group evolved into M-Group - here is our story:

2006

July 13, 2006, an S-Corp is formed in the name of Metropolitan Planning Group or M-Group for short. Our existing logo is created at this time.

The old Greyhound bus station in Sunnyvale was renovated to be M-Group’s first headquarters. The ticket counter was kept in place for conducting business and rolling out plans.

New projects at this time were with Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, mostly for large project development review.

2007

M-Group started doing planning work for developers including Trinity Church in Sunnyvale and Merrill Gardens in Campbell.

The Campbell Reporter features M-Group in the front page article Building Character.

2008

M-Group gets more media attention and gains exposure - The Business Journal: Easing the planning process.

M-Group outgrows its original office and moves its headquarters to Mountain View near the Sunnyvale Golf Course.

2009

M-Group lands a contract for staffing and managing the City of Petaluma’s planning division based on a unique 100% cost recovery model. The contract would soon expand to include advanced planning, housing, and numerous special projects. This ongoing engagement is the cornerstone example of M-Group’s staffing services and development review capabilities.

M-Group commits to working mainly for public agencies to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

2010

M-Group successfully completes two major projects pushing their reputation as high-quality Policy Planning experts to a new level! The City of Belvedere General Plan Update and the City of Burlingame Downtown Specific Plan are both adopted.

City of Half Moon Bay hires M-Group to provide full-service staffing for counter coverage, development review, and division management. M-Group implements over 50 items from a recent management audit of the planning function.

M-Group completes a dozen Housing Elements during the 4th RHNA Cycle.

2014

Recognizing the pivotal role of Community Engagement in equitable city planning, M-Group incorporates this essential practice into its services, ensuring every voice is heard and empowered in shaping our collective cities and towns.

M-Group launches the first edition of THE LIST - a comprehensive directory of city planners in the Bay Area.

2015

To be able to serve more communities around the Bay Area M-Group opens two new offices – Santa Rosa and Hayward.

M-Group starts work leading a team of consultants and stakeholders to prepare the Sunnyvale El Camino Real Corridor Specific Plan and EIR. This was later awarded the APA Northern Section Award of Merit in 2023!

M-Group completes seven Housing Elements during the 5th RHNA Cycle.

2016

M-Group celebrates 10 years by moving its headquarters from Mountain View to Downtown Campbell, setting up shop in the historic Campbell Farmer’s Union fruit storage and packing plant building.

2017

M-Group grows to 46 people. M-Group provides planning services to over two-thirds of Bay Area cities and counties.

The City of Sausalito enlists M-Group to plan and create their General Plan Update.

2018

Vallco Town Center SB 35 Application: M-Group assists the City of Cupertino with a determination of eligibility for this mixed-use project’s conformance with California’s newly enacted SB 35 housing law. The project proposed plans for the 51-acre site of a former Vallco shopping center. The proposed Vallco Town Center provides 2,402 dwelling units (at the time) with 50 percent of the units considered affordable housing. The application was approved, and demolition of the existing structures has been completed.

M-Group engages with Santa Clara County to manage the Stanford General Use Permit application. After years of high-profile attention, intense community involvement, and in-depth analysis, the project would come to an end in late 2019 with Stanford’s withdrawal of the application.

2019

M-Group creates, plans, and manages the Academic Space Affordable Housing Impact Mitigation Fees Ordinance and the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance covering the Stanford Community Plan Area. The County of Santa Clara adopts and implements both ordinances.

2020

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, M-Group adheres to emergency orders to “Shelter in Place’” and work from home. Thanks to a strong culture of flexibility and collaboration M-Group seamlessly transitions to remote operations and effectively serves clients virtually from home offices in nine different counties across the Bay Area.

To build equity and diversity within the planning profession, M-Group creates a perpetual $75,000 scholarship fund for first generation students at Cal Poly SLO, and $10,000 each for two additional scholarships.

2021

Sausalito General Plan Update is unanimously adopted, completing four years of complex policy planning providing the City of Sausalito with a solid plan to guide the city through the next 20 years with a strong focus on equity, climate change, and rising sea levels.

M-Group celebrates 15 years of building better communities!!

2022

M-Group and the City of Sausalito earn the APA Northern Section Award of Merit, Comprehensive Plan, Small Jurisdiction for the 2040 Sausalito General Plan!

M-Group’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is launched with a four-point mission:

• Understand how to best serve the communities we work in.

• Know more about the complexity of DEI.

• Learn about best practices to effect positive outcomes for DEI.

• Recognize and address our limitations and identify areas of growth.

M-Group partners with Town of Atherton to provide Full Department Staffing Services to the Town!

2023

M-Group assists seven (7) Bay Area cities and towns to prepare their 6th Cycle Housing Elements and, with the City of Campbell, claims the distinction of being one of the first in Santa Clara County to have an adopted HCD-certified 6th Cycle Housing Element.

M-Group garners second APA Northern Section Award of Merit - Comprehensive Plan, this time for the City of Sunnyvale El Camino Real Specific Plan.

The Stanford University Community Plan is approved on a unanimous 5-0 vote. This is the first comprehensive update since 2000, establishing innovative and forward-thinking policies that M-Group is proud to be a part of.

M-Group takes the first step in becoming a 100% employee-owned firm by announcing the transition to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan!