BART receives $49 million grant for housing developments

(BCN) -- BART announced Friday that it will receive a $49 million grant from the California State Transportation Agency to further the development of improved pedestrian access, public spaces and other improvements at stations in Oakland and El Cerrito.

The grant from the state's 2022 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program, which provides grants to projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban commuter rail, bus and ferry systems, will support projects at the Lake Merritt, West Oakland and El Cerrito Plaza stations that will eventually lead to the development of more than 2,000 housing units across the three stations. According to BART, at least 30 percent of the units will be offered below market rate.

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

Roughly $13 million of the grant will be used to relocate a power supply at Lake Merritt station that is currently located in a building that will be demolished to build some 550 housing units across three buildings. Another roughly $13 million will be used to construct a parking garage at El Cerrito Plaza, which will allow for the construction of up to 800 housing units on the station's existing surface parking lots.

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BART will also use $4.5 million of the grant to construct new bicycle infrastructure at West Oakland. A housing development at the station will eventually result in more than 750 units.

The $49 million will support the transit agency's project to improve mobility options at its East Bay stations. The total project is expected to cost roughly $77 million, according to BART officials.

Of that budget, BART has secured matching local funding for roughly $28 million.

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