Thirty years ago, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) program was established to build BART’s ridership base and to support local economic development efforts. BART’s TOD program has evolved to respond to multiple changing societal demands, including the need to address climate and equity challenges. One of BART’s TOD goals for 2020-2025 is to advance racial and economic equity by prioritizing housing for lower income residents in areas experiencing displacement as well as high-opportunity communities at the core of the BART system.
In close partnership with the City of Berkeley, BART is laying the ground for an inclusive and vibrant TOD. Hundreds of new homes affordable to people with a variety of incomes, retail and/or cultural uses complementing the adjacent Lorin District businesses, and new gathering spaces are among the goals that residents of Berkeley identified for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) at Ashby.
Request for Proposals
BART and the City of Berkeley are pleased to jointly request proposals that will result in the construction of an equitable transit-oriented development (TOD) project at Ashby station. BART is soliciting qualifications to select a developer who will work jointly with BART, the City, and the community to establish, build, and manage a feasible development program at the west parking lot of Ashby station. Concurrently, the City will consider applications from qualified entities for predevelopment funding for affordable housing at the station through a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). BART and the City’s intent in this joint Request for Developer Proposals and NOFA (RFP) is to align the parallel solicitation and evaluation processes of BART and the City to allow for simplification and efficiency for both the agencies and for prospective developers.
Download the Request for Proposals for TOD and NOFA [link to PDF]
Download Attachment 7, Qualifying Project Form [link to Word doc]
Download Attachment 9, Workbook [link to Excel doc]
Additional Materials Posted 12/10/24
Download ALTA Survey [link to PDF]
Download City of Berkeley’s Preliminary Objective Design Standards (ODS) [link to PDF]
Note: The Preliminary ODS are also posted on the City’s project website at www.berkeleyca.gov/bartplanning
Note that in order to submit questions about the RFP, attend a Pre-Submittal Conference and receive other information regarding this opportunity, developers and potential team members must complete an RFP Registration Form at https://bit.ly/3AOdYAF by December 16, 2024 at noon. Registration is open to parties interested in responding to the RFP, and is not required in order to submit a response to the RFP. Proposals are due March 3, 2025 at 4:00pm.
The Pre-Submittal Conference and Networking Session will take place Tuesday, December 17 at 9:30am at BART, 2150 Webster Street in Oakland, in the ground floor board room. Please see page 61-62 of the RFP for more information about the event, and note that the deadline for developers to confirm for the Networking Session has been extended.
Latest News
BART and the City have negotiated an Exchange Agreement to serve as a roadmap for future development. The Exchange Agreement addresses property ownership, community benefits, and roles and responsibilities for future development for the City, BART, and future developer(s). The terms were approved by BART’s board in 2023, and the Exchange Agreement was then considered by Berkeley's City Council which gave its unanimous final approval on December 3, 2024.
BART and the City held an open house on September 12, 2024, at Ed Roberts Campus to inform stakeholders about the proposed terms. Event materials may be reviewed here:
9/12/24 Open House Presentation Boards
9/12/24 Open House Presentation Video (27 mins)
Site Overview
The Ashby BART Station development sites are comprised of a +/- 4 acre site (West Lot) on the west side of Adeline and a a +/- 1.9 acre site (East Lot) on the east side of Adeline. The West Lot is adjacent to the Ashby BART Station and the East Lot is adjacent to the Ed Roberts Campus, which was an earlier phase of TOD; both lots are currently used for BART rider parking. The Berkeley Flea Market operates at the West Lot on weekends.
The City holds an option to purchase the “air rights” (starting at 10 feet above the ground) to the West Lot. Per the terms agreed between the two parties, the City will give up its air rights option on the Ashby BART West Lot in return for BART giving the City sole ownership of the East Lot, and specified community benefits. Simplifying ownership of the parcels lessens the uncertainty for future developers.
Collaboration between the City of Berkeley and BART: 2015 to present
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In 2015, the City began a robust community process to develop a plan for the Adeline Street corridor which includes the Ashby BART station and its parking lots. Sites close to transit (whether BART or other high frequency transit) present opportunities for adding new housing and jobs and providing economic stimulus to surrounding areas. With funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Adeline Corridor Specific Plan was developed and adopted by the City in 2020. The Adeline Corridor Specific Plan identifies several goals for development of the Ashby BART station, but was not specifically focused on the development of the BART property.
In the final stages of the plan’s development, the State of California passed Assembly Bill 2923 (Chiu/Grayson, 2018) which imposed requirements for the minimum density, height, floor-area ratio and parking for zoning of certain BART-owned property including these sites. Therefore, in 2019, Berkeley and BART developed a Memorandum of Understanding to complete further work to plan for this development opportunity.
Memorandum of Understanding (2020)
In 2020, the BART Board of Directors and the Berkeley City Council both unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that established a City-led community advisory process to articulate community-centered goals for zoning and development of TOD at Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations; called for BART’s future developer selection process to consider those community-centered goals; and set deadlines for the City to rezone the sites and to decide whether to reserve City affordable housing funds for projects at Ashby and North Berkeley.
Community Advisory Group (CAG)
Under the terms of the MOU, BART and Berkeley worked closely from January 2020 to December 2021 with a Council-appointed Community Advisory Group (CAG) through public meetings to to lay the foundation for development at both the Ashby BART and North Berkeley stations and address issues of affordable housing, land use, station access, building form, and new public spaces that would benefit the current and future residents as well as BART riders. The eight CAG meetings were public and were complemented by three community meetings, where the general public provided input on development priorities for the Ashby and North Berkeley stations.
Joint Vision and Priorities
The CAG helped shape the City-BART “Joint Vision and Priorities for Transit-Oriented Development for Ashby and North Berkeley Stations” (JVP). In June 2022, the Berkeley City Council and the BART Board of Directors unanimously approved the Joint Vision and Priorities.
City Affordable Housing Funding Reservation
In April 2021, the Berkeley City Council provisionally reserved $53 million of City-controlled funds as the subsidy needed to achieve 35% affordable housing at the Ashby and North Berkeley TODs. The City is now considering ways of generating more funds to increase the affordability level to 50% or higher.
Flea Market Relocation Study
The Berkeley Flea Market is an important community asset and resource that is currently held in the West Lot on weekends. In order to satisfy the housing goals articulated in the JVP the West Lot must be available for development and the Flea Market must be relocated. The JVP anticipates a relocated Flea Market by Ashby station and the new housing TOD. BART worked with experts to study alternative sites for a permanent home for the Flea Market in a potential linear plaza along Adeline Street. Vendors and representatives of the Flea Market helped shape these alternatives. In November 2022, the Berkeley City Council approved a “road diet” option for Adeline and directed staff to move forward with design. The Adeline “road diet” includes plans for an extended plaza that will provide space for many community activities including a new permanent home for the Flea Market.
Corridor Access Plan
The Berkeley-El Cerrito Corridor Access Plan provided a rare opportunity to comprehensively analyze how residents in Berkeley, El Cerrito, Richmond, Albany, Kensington, Emeryville, and Oakland who currently drive and park at the El Cerrito Plaza, North Berkeley, and Ashby stations could access BART along the corridor once TOD is built on the existing parking lots. The plan recommends balancing BART rider parking, which is expensive and uses a lot of space, with transportation options that enhance community vibrancy and safety. BART is making a recommendation for a maximum of 85 on-site replacement parking spaces at Ashby.
Memorandum of Agreement (2022)
With many of the milestones envisioned in the 2020 MOU completed, BART and the City signed a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on June 30, 2022 following unanimous approval by the BART Board and Berkeley City Council. The MOA clarifies both parties’ next steps for TOD at North Berkeley, as well addressing issues related to realizing a new, vibrant transit village at Ashby that will be home to people with a variety of incomes.
Next Steps
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BART – with participation by City representatives – will select a developer via a competitive process which is planned to start in winter 2024-‘25. In preparation for that, the following work is underway.
Adeline Roadway Reconfiguration
The Ashby, Adeline, and Martin Luther King Jr. Way roadway pattern is not welcoming or safe for people traveling on foot or bike. A goal of the Adeline Corridor Specific Plan and JVP is to develop a pedestrian- and bike-friendly TOD. A prior planning study determined that it was feasible to convert some travel lanes on Adeline into a linear plaza – to put Adeline on a “road diet” – while preserving adequate traffic flow. In November 2022, the Berkeley City Council approved a road diet option for Adeline and directed staff to move forward with design. The City is beginning preliminary design in 2024.
Objective Design Standards
The Objective Design Standards will be the rules approved by the City of Berkeley to govern how the developer designs the new buildings to be constructed on each BART property. These standards will set additional limits on what kind of construction can be built on the properties, and city planning staff will review the architect’s designs for consistency with the standards. The Objective Design Standards will be developed through an inclusive process that will include input from residents and other stakeholders, and will be finalized for Ashby following the selection of a developer.
Recent Actions
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2023
- November 16, 2023: The BART Board of Directors update on the Ashby Station TOD planning effort. Download the meeting presentation.
November 8, 2023: Virtual Community Meeting on Traction Power Substation (TPSS). Download the presentation slides.
2022
- April 6, 2022: Planning Commission Public Hearing and recommendation to City Council on the draft zoning and General Plan Amendments, JPA, and Final EIR.
- April 19, 2022: City Council Work Session on draft zoning and General Plan amendments, JVP, Final EIR, and key issues related to the MOA, Flea Market relocation and Adeline road reconfiguration.
- May 26, 2022: BART Board information item on recommended replacement parking maximums, JVP, and MOA.
- June 2, 2022: City Council certified the Final EIR, approved the draft zoning (Residential – BART Mixed Use or “R-BMU”), General Plan amendments, JVP, and MOA.
- June 9, 2022: BART Board approval of recommended replacement parking maximums, JVP, and MOA.
- July 2022: BART issues RFQ for North Berkeley
- October 2022: Berkeley acts on Adeline Corridor, Flea Market and Air Rights issues
- Dec 2022: North Berkeley developer selection to BART Board
Community Engagement
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BART and the City of Berkeley want to ensure all stakeholders interested in future transit-oriented development at the Ashby BART station are involved, informed, and provide input. Below is a list of organizations that have been active in this discussion to date. If you represent an organization that is interested in engaging in the Ashby TOD planning process, please reach out to [email protected].
Community Services United - Berkeley Flea Market
Ed Roberts Campus
Equity 4 Black Berkeley
Friends of Adeline
Livable Berkeley
The Lorin District Berkeley
South Berkeley NOW
Walk / Bike Berkeley
If you wish to contact BART with a question or comment about the Ashby TOD please email [email protected].