Berkeley and BART Seek Developers for Rail Station Reuse

The City of Berkeley and BART have cut a deal to redevelop the Ashby BART Station into at least 1,200 homes, nonprofit group offices and the Berkeley Flea Market.

The city and Bay Area Rapid Transit signed an agreement to create a transit-oriented housing project on a 6.5-acre parking lot at the light rail station at 3100 Adeline Street, in south Berkeley, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The city and BART will join forces to redevelop the station at Ashby Avenue and Adeline Street with developer solicitations, project approvals and other benchmarks. They could reach out to developers by the end of the year.

In the agreement, which BART’s Board of Directors ratified last year, Berkeley agreed to relinquish its air rights over the west parking lot in exchange for ownership of the east parking lot.

The city negotiated community benefits, with at least 35 percent of the homes to be affordable or below market-rate.

The Ashby BART Station must also include a permanent home for the Berkeley Flea Market and 5,000 square feet of affordable space for community groups.

The city pledged $26.5 million in reserve funds towards the affordable homes, including $18.5 million for the west lot and $8 million for the east lot, according to the Business Times. The city will create an Enhanced Infrastructure District to help finance infrastructure improvements on the west lot.

The City Council must approve the official contracts later this year before BART and Berkeley can start soliciting developers.

In 2022, the City Council rezoned the Ashby BART and North Berkeley BART stations to allow buildings as tall as seven stories and as many as 1,200 units on each site. Developers could build even more homes if they employ a state density bonus.

Last year, Berkeley Housing Partners, a group of affordable and market-rate developers, was selected to develop the North Berkeley BART station, according to the Business Times. Plans call for nearly 750 homes, more than half of which will be set aside as affordable.

— Dana Bartholomew