Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) AT EL CERRITO PLAZA BART

El Cerrito Plaza BART Station

In 2019, BART kicked off a series of community engagement and City Council meetings to discuss TOD at El Cerrito Plaza Station. The preliminary community input received was used to develop TOD Goals & Objectives as the guiding vision for El Cerrito Plaza Station. In January 2020 the BART Board of Directors authorized staff to proceed with the next phase of this project which included a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify a development team that was released in July 2020. On November 19, 2020 the BART Board selected the development team - Holliday Development, Related California and Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA) - to advance development at El Cerrito Plaza BART and entered into a Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA). This project will integrate community benefits and amenities for El Cerrito including affordable housing, public open space and art, and multimodal transportation infrastructure improvements. During the predevelopment process, the development team and City will study the feasibility of including a new library at the site (City Council Resolution 2016-68 and Resolution 2019-66). BART also received State and Federal grant funding to study/identify parking and transportation strategies to enhance station access in addition to the parking studies undertaken by the City. With both a developer on board and grant funding to continue to work on parking and circulation, City staff and BART will host numerous community engagement and input opportunities. The City also has a dedicated page - www.el-cerrito.org/parkingstudies - where you can learn more about parking studies undertaken at El Cerrito Plaza station.

SITE PLAN

BART owns four parcels consisting of 8.3 acres and the site is zoned for 6-8 stories. The preliminary Development concept includes 743 units across 6 buildings on 6.48 acres and will be delivered in six phases. Currently, the proposed levels of affordability are: 53% market-rate and 47% below market rate consisting of 31% affordable (30% - 60% of area median income) and 16% low income (up to 80% area median income). An opportunity for a new community library at the El Cerrito Plaza Station Transit-Oriented Development is also being explored as part of this process and more details will be made available at www.el-cerrito.org/Library.


BART TOD           ECP TOD site

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND OUTREACH

Check back for upcoming meetings and outreach.

Subscribe to our Community Development E-Newsletter to receive future workshop notifications: www.el-cerrito.org/CommDev

LINKS TO PAST MEETINGS AND MATERIALS

Between 2019-2023, the City, BART and Developer held a variety of workshops, study sessions and public hearings to discuss El Cerrito Plaza BART TOD. Click here to view this information.

BACKGROUND

Assembly Bill 2923 San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District: Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) 2018

On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2923 to allow for development streamlining and TOD standards for BART located property within ½ mile of stations in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties. This legislation is intended to create new housing opportunities near transit in order to support California’s housing and climate crisis. BART’s systemwide goal is to produce 20,000 homes with 35% earmarked as affordable on its properties by 2040.

 A brochure describing AB 2923 and how it affects BART’s TOD Program may be downloaded here.

You can also view BART’s Transit-Oriented Development Work Plan here.

For additional information, please visit https://www.bart.gov/about/business/tod/ab2923

San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan

The San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan (Plan), adopted by the City Council in 2014 and updated in 2022, fosters new housing opportunities in Priority Development Areas connected to transit and commercial uses. The Plan encourages high-density, mixed-use multi-family housing projects that will include affordable and market rate housing units as well as new commercial/retail space. Projects in the Plan area that are centered around the two BART stations (Transit oriented Higher-Intensity Mixed Use district) are permitted to build up-to 65’ by right and other areas up-to 55’ by right with reduced parking requirements. There are some exceptions that could allow up-to 85’ or 65’ if project qualifies under the State Density Bonus Program. For information about Specific Plan projects, visit our major projects page at www.el-cerrito.org/MajorProjects.


The selected development team will design a project that aligns with the City’s San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan, Climate Action Plan, Affordable Housing Strategy and Economic Development Plan, TOD Goals and Objectives, and AB2923.


QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

The City and BART are also continuously updating a list of Frequently Asked Questions here.

Additional information is also available on BART’s website at www.bart.gov/about/business/tod/el-cerrito-plaza.

To receive information about this effort, please subscribe to our Community Development E-Newsletter at: www.el-cerrito.org/CommDev. For questions or comments, please contact the Community Development Department at community@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us.