Ashby and North Berkeley BART Station Planning
Share your vision for the future of housing, open space, and community amenities at the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations.
Planning is underway to re-imagine the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations as vibrant places that include housing, open space, and community amenities. Both sites are owned by the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART). The City of Berkeley develops the zoning and site planning parameters for the development that reflect a shared community vision. BART, as the property owner, chooses the developer and oversees the construction of any projects at their stations.
The City of Berkeley is developing Objective Design Standards that will guide the design of future development at North Berkeley BART, as described in the Memorandum of Agreement approved by City Council and the BART Board of Directors.
See the Past Events section for materials from previous meetings related to N. Berkeley BART Objective Design Standards.
Project Background
Spurred by the passage of Assembly Bill 2923 (AB 2923) in 2018, the City and BART have been collaborating to facilitate transit-oriented development at the Ashby and North Berkeley BART sites. The City Council and BART Board of Directors executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in March 2020 and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in June 2022 that outlines key milestones to advance to a solicitation for developer teams.
Date | Milestone |
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September 2018 |
Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 2923. This state legislation affects zoning requirements on existing BART-owned property within 1/2 mile of stations in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco Counties. |
March 2020 | Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between City and BART. This established a framework for the development of the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations, including a community advisory process and other community engagement; milestones and a timeline to develop zoning that complies with AB 2923; solicitation of developer(s); and further studies/planning for the two station areas. |
June 2020 - December 2021 |
Community Advisory Group Meetings. BART and the City worked closely with a Council-appointed Community Advisory Group (CAG), meeting eight times to create 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. |
April 2021 | Affordable Housing Funding. Reservation by City Council of $53 million of City affordable housing funding for the Ashby and North Berkeley BART sites. |
June 2022 | Joint Vision and Priorities (JVP) Document. The Berkeley City Council and the BART Board approved the JVP, which expresses the City and BART's shared, high-level expectations for future development of both stations. |
June 2022 | R-BMU Zoning. In accordance with AB 2923, the Berkeley City Council adopted a new Chapter 23.202.150 in the Zoning Ordinance adding a "Residential - BART Mixed Use (R-BMU)" zoning district to govern development at the North Berkeley and Ashby BART stations. |
June 2022 | Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between City and BART. This agreement is to cooperatively pursue transit-oriented development (TOD) at the North Berkeley and Ashby BART stations. It is made in furtherance of the MOU, signed in 2020, and JVP, signed in 2022. The MOA primarily addresses the North Berkeley BART Project. |
November 2022 | Ashby BART - Adeline Street Right-of-Way Design. The City Council approved a preferred design concept to redesign the Adeline Street Right-of-Way at Ashby BART; provided information about the City's policies for managing parking around BART stations. |
December 2022 | North Berkeley BART Station Developer Team. BART Board of Directors approved the selected developer team: North Berkeley Housing Partners (NBHP), is composed of three affordable housing nonprofits - BRIDGE Housing, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, and Insight Housing - as well as a developer of market-rate homes, AvalonBay Communities. |
December 2023 | North Berkeley BART Objective Design Standards (ODS). The Berkeley City Council adopted the North Berkeley BART Station Area Objective Design Standards. Objective Design Standard-focused events and related materials can be found under Past Events below. |
February 2024 | North Berkeley BART Project Submittal. North Berkeley Housing Partners submitted a housing project application for streamlined entitlement pursuant to AB 2011. |
Next Steps
North Berkeley BART
The City and BART are in the process of reviewing the ministerial application submitted under AB 2011 for compliance with the City's adopted objective development standards (e.g. R-BMU zoning and ODS) and BART's station operations, maintenance, and safety requirements, respectively. Providing that the proposed project complies with adopted objective standards, the land use entitlement(s) is expected to be finalized in June 2024 to be eligible for this year's State affordable housing funding June 30 deadline.
To learn more about the project application, visit Permits Online, click on the "Zoning" tab, and under Permit Number enter in PLN2024-0010.
Ashby BART
The City and BART are in the process of developing a proposed real estate transaction structure, minimum requirements and community benefits for the TOD project, and processes by which the City and BART will work together on developer solicitations, project entitlement and other identified milestones.
Past Events
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North Berkeley BART Community Meeting and Open House
September 11, 2023 6 DocumentsDocumentDocumentDocumentDocumentDocument
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North Berkeley BART Open House
May 10, 2023 1 DocumentsDocument
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N. Berkeley BART - Objective Design Standards (ODS) Community Meeting #2 (Zoom)
February 16, 2023 1 DocumentsDocument
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N. Berkeley BART - Objective Design Standards (ODS) Community Meeting #2 In-Person
February 15, 2023 1 DocumentsDocument
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Objective Design Standards (ODS) Community Meeting
November 16, 2022 3 DocumentsDocumentDocumentDocument
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Planning Commission November 2021
November 3, 2021 2 DocumentsDocumentDocument
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Planning Commission September 2021
September 1, 2021 2 DocumentsDocumentDocument
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BART Planning Community Workshop #3
June 26, 2021 2 DocumentsDocumentDocument
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BART Planning Community Workshop #2
February 8, 2021 2 DocumentsDocumentDocument
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BART Planning Community Workshop #1
August 31, 2020 3 DocumentsDocumentDocumentDocument