BART earns $49 million grant to bolster affordable housing and green development

BART’s transit-oriented development plans in Oakland and El Cerrito are receiving a $49 million boost. The grant from the California State Transportation Agency's 2022 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program will support greater bike and pedestrian access, new public spaces, and other improvements at the Lake Merritt, West Oakland, and El Cerrito Plaza stations. These shovel-ready developments will feature more than 2,000 new homes with at least 30% offered at below market rate.

The grant will support BART’s East Bay Transit-Oriented Development Mobility Enhancements Project. Some of the project components that will be funded by this new grant include:

*$12,900,000 to relocate the Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) at Lake Merritt Station. The current UPS is in a building that must be demolished to make way for a development that includes more than 550 new homes in three residential buildings.
*$12,800,000 for a new parking garage at El Cerrito Plaza Station. Building the garage will allow for the development of 600-800 apartments on existing surface lots.
*$4,500,000 for new cycle tracks and a bike station at West Oakland Station. These improvements are coupled with a development that will include 762 residential units with a third of those dedicated to affordable housing.

“These investments will drive greenhouse gas emissions savings and reduce vehicle miles traveled by increasing ridership on BART at these sites,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “The developments will serve people of all income levels by linking housing affordability with access to opportunity.”

The East Bay Transit-Oriented Development Mobility Enhancements Project leverages local funds – of the $76.9 million total project budget, BART has secured $27.9 million of matching funds, representing 36% of the funding.