BART has taken a major step in its plan to create hundreds, maybe thousands, of homes near the North Berkeley Station.
The transit system announced a two-year Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with San Francisco-based Bridge Housing for the Transit Oriented Development.
The project site is about 5.5 acres of BART-owned land surrounding the station at 1750 Sacramento Street, including the main passenger parking area. A document adopted by both BART and the city of Berkeley anticipates 500 to 1,200 homes on BART’s property at North Berkeley, of which at least 35 percent would be affordable.
“Every time I’m at North Berkeley Station, I look around and imagine housing replacing the sea of nearly empty parking lots, and it brings me so much joy,” BART Board President Rebecca Saltzman said.
The city of Berkeley has expressed support for the project from the get-go and pledged $53 million as the subsidy to achieve at least 35 percent affordable housing at North Berkeley, as well as at a future project planned at Ashby Station. The Ashby Project could bring an additional 600 homes to Berkeley.
Bridge has formed a team with three other developers: Oakland-based East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC); which is advancing affordable housing at BART’s Lake Merritt Station, homeless service provider Berkeley Food and Housing Project; and AvalonBay, which completed more than 600 apartments at Pleasant Hill BART.
This team was selected due to its experience, its leadership by a nonprofit organization, and members’ track record with engaging communities during the planning of new homes, according to BART.
Bridge’s team is expected to make a preliminary plan publicly available in early 2023. Construction would be completed in several phases, with the first phase starting in 2025 or later. Some of the existing BART parking could be replaced within the new buildings.
In the event that Bridge is unable to go through with the development, BART is authorized to enter into an agreement with the second-choice developer, San Francisco-based Republic Metropolitan.