Plans for TOD Housing at Berkeley BART Station

The city is behind plans to turn parking lots around the North Berkeley BART station into much-needed housing.

1 minute read

May 29, 2019, 11:00 AM PDT

By Camille Fink


North Berkeley BART Station

Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia Commons

Berkeley, California, wants to be proactive about transit-oriented development around the Bay Area Rapid Transit station in North Berkeley, reports Jared Brey. Last year the state passed legislation requiring BART to develop height and density guidelines by 2022 for its land adjacent to stations, and this month the Berkeley city council voted to establish a memorandum of understanding with the agency about future planning.

City leaders would like to see less height along with less parking and more density. Some community members are also calling for 100 percent of the units to be affordable housing, but that would be a difficult outcome to achieve. “The site could end up being built out with hundreds of new housing units, at least a portion of which will be affordable for low-income residents,” says Brey.

The fact that the Berkeley community is supporting the planning process for the North Berkeley BART station is very positive, say BART representatives and city officials. “More developers are able to work with BART on transit-oriented projects than they were when the TOD program launched in the 1990s, [Abby] Thorne-Lyman [of BART] says. Land has gotten more valuable and the housing shortage has gotten worse. But BART’s standards for affordability and open space are high,” notes Brey.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 in Next City

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

5 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

7 hours ago - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine