Traffic & Transit
El Cerrito Plaza BART Station Parking To Be Converted To Housing
The project will be in addition to the Mayfair project on a former city block next to the Del Norte BART station.
EL CERRITO, CA — The BART Board of Directors voted on Thursday to enter an exclusive negotiating agreement with Holliday Development and its partners on a transit-oriented development project for three blocks totaling about eight acres now used for parking at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station.
Holliday Development and partner Factory_OS, which builds modular housing at Mare Island in Vallejo, are currently constructing the Mayfair project on a former city block next to the Del Norte BART station in El Cerrito and have also partnered on a similar project by West Oakland BART.
BART Director Rebecca Saltzman said on Twitter that she was "Thrilled that BART Board just approved exclusive negotiating agreement for El Cerrito Plaza BART development," which would include more than 35 percent affordable units and potentially space for a new city library branch location.
Find out what's happening in El Cerritofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The biggest obstacle and objection to development at the station is loss of parking.
A 2015 study by BART concluded that 34 percent of people using the station drive and park there, down from 42 percent in 2008. The survey showed that 38 percent of passengers walked to the station and 19 percent were dropped off. Another 5 percent arrive by bicycle and 4 percent by public transportation.
Find out what's happening in El Cerritofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Prospective developers were asked "to provide two preliminary development concepts and site plans, one with a 21,000 square foot library and associated parking, and one without."
The project would also have ground floor retail space adjacent to the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center.
Buildings could be as tall as 85 feet on two of the parcels and 65 feet on the third.
BART has a goal "to produce 20,000 housing units and 4.5 million square feet of office/commercial space on its properties by 2040," with at least 35 percent of the residential space classified as affordable.
Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. —Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.