The City of El Cerrito was recently awarded $39.1 million in state Affrordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program funding to build a 70-unit building adjacent to El Cerrito Plaza BART.
It will be the first building in a six-phase, roughly four-year-long transit-oriented development project that seeks to build six residential structures with a total of 743 new units in the area, of which 47 percent will be rented at below-market rents, according to the City of El Cerrito.
The $39.1 million in funding, approved by the California Strategic Growth Council, will help finance the first residential structure, called Parcel A South. The building will be bounded by Richmond Street to the east, Central Avenue to the south, and the Ohlone Greenway to the west. As the city explained, “It occupies the southern portion of the existing BART parking lot on the north side of Central Avenue, across the street from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station.” Construction is expected to start on the building in 2025.
Also funded by the AHSC will be over a mile of east-west bikeway, a safe walkway along Richmond Street, new bus shelters and traffic calming measures. Residents in the project will receive transit passes as part of the grant, as well.
“This grant award is a significant step forward in our commitment to creating a more equitable and sustainable El Cerrito,” said Mayor Tessa Rudnick. “The project will not only provide much-needed affordable housing but also contribute to our city’s environmental and climate goals.”
The broad plans for the entire transit-oriented develpment include 22,000 square feet of new public open space, including a new, half-acre community plaza along Fairmount Avenue, 2,100 square feet of new commercial space and possibly a new library, if funding permits.
The City of El Cerrito is required under the state’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation program to create 1,391 new housing units for the 2023-2031 planning period, with 38 percent earmarked as affordable.
The city and other project stakeholders are actively applying for additional funding to realize the full vision for the El Cerrito Plaza TOD project. Click here for more information.
