A high-profile affordable housing development is set to break ground at West Oakland BART Station next week, and it will require a sacrifice: 240 parking spaces.
That number is a little more than half the automobile storage available at the station lot, long a preferred stop for commuters seeking to avoid Bay Bridge traffic to San Francisco. About 200 spots will remain available on a first-come, first-served basis. Officials at BART are trying to divert frequent users of West Oakland parking to other stations that are relatively nearby, including Fruitvale and Rockridge.
The first phase of Mandela Station, a 240-unit affordable apartment building, is set to break ground soon at the West Oakland BART station. (OA Architects)
Additionally, BART crews have moved bicycle parking from the south side of the station on 5th Street to the north side on 7th Street. AC Transit buses that have always pulled up at the concourse will now stop at 7th Street and Mandela Parkway, roughly a block away. Curbs for pick-up and drop-off will be relocated as well, to 7th and Chester streets for those heading south, and 7th and Center streets for westbound drivers.
The Mandela Station development, which in its first phase comprises a 240 unit apartment complex, could help rejuvenate a neighborhood that faltered for years after BART demolished homes to build elevated tracks in the 1960s. Once completed, Mandela Station would be a significant addition to Oakland’s skyline, with steel-and-glass towers packing in 522 market-rate units, ground-floor storefronts, new plazas, trees, terraces, bike paths and a parking garage.
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This article originally published at West Oakland BART housing project to break ground. Here’s how much parking commuters will lose.