Page One

BART enacted a policy to have 20 percent affordable housing at future residential developments at its stations as it moved forward with a new development in East Oakland intended to have 100 percent affordable housing. 

The new policy does allow for exceptions for developments where affordable housing is "infeasible," but developers would need to return to the BART board to explain why they would be unable to include the mandated affordable housing to be granted an exception. 

So far developments at BART stations, such as the Fruitvale Transit Village in Oakland, have mostly included about 30 percent affordable housing, according to BART officials. But at some stations, securing the necessary funding for affordable housing has been difficult, such as for a project underway at the Millbrae station, where developers could only accommodate 17 percent affordable housing. 

The new policy, introduced by Director Zakhary Mallett, passed 6-3 at the BART board meeting today, with directors Gail Murray, Robert Raburn and Thomas Blalock voting against it. 

Murray said she found the policy too inflexible, potentially scaring away potential developers, and said BART could bring in more income if it were open to building market rate housing. 

She said she worried that when asking taxpayers for more funds, "not maximizing the assets we have will send the wrong message." 

Raburn said he was in support of the affordable housing requirements, but wanted to wait until BART develops a comprehensive policy for development, expected later this year. 

"I hate coming back and trying to sweep up after something that frankly is not comprehensive," Raburn said. 

Earlier in the meeting the board moved forward with a plan to build a new 110-unit housing development on 1.32-acre BART-owned lot at the Coliseum station in Oakland. Half the project would be affordable housing units and the other half would be workforce housing for people employed as nurses, teachers or in similar jobs, BART officials said. 

The project is mainly publicly funded, including through $9.6 million in tax credits, $4.9 million in state cap-and-trade funds and a $12 million loan from the city of Oakland. The Oakland City Council approved the loan earlier this month with a provision it would be forgiven so long as the project maintains its affordable housing guarantees. 

City Councilman Larry Reid, who helped secure the city loan, said the area around the "incredible jewel" of the Oakland Coliseum has the greatest opportunity for development in the city outside of downtown. 

Reid also serves on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority and said today that he's still working on securing another one-year lease there for the Oakland Raiders to buy time to move forward with development plans with the Raiders, the Oakland A's, or both. 

By moving forward with its development, BART is helping to "shape the future of deep east Oakland for a lifetime," Reid said. 

The project's developer is UrbanCore Development, LLC, a firm that raised controversy last year with a plan to purchase a city-owned parcel near Lake Merritt for the construction of a market rate residential high-rise. The City Council shelved the sale when a leaked memo revealed they were advised it was likely illegal under state law. 

Speaking at the BART meeting on the Coliseum development plan, UrbanCore CEO Michael Johnson said, "Without the combination of public subsidies, this project could not move forward." 

BART has been seeking to develop its land around the Coliseum station for the last 15 years. Initial discussions with the city began in November 2000 and they entered an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Oakland Economic Development Committee in July 2004 but progress stalled for years at a time after that. 

It is the first of several intended steps in developing the area around the Coliseum station with further housing and retail. 

/www/bcn/general/01/newsclip.16.01.28.19.42.00.1.txt