West Oakland BART transit-oriented development plans mid-2026 construction start, beginning with 240 affordable homes

Pre-construction work begins at West Oakland BART Station

Pre-construction activities have begun at the West Oakland BART Station site of a long-planned transit-oriented development that is expected to reshape portions of the station’s surface parking lots into a mixed-use district. Soil testing and related field work started Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, and is scheduled to continue through Feb. 17, requiring temporary, rotating closures of sections of the station parking lot.

BART has said the first construction phase is currently scheduled to start in mid-2026, with initial work focused on building a 240-unit affordable housing component on the southwest portion of the station’s parking area. The overall project is planned to include 762 residential units, along with new retail and office space and station-area access improvements.

What is planned for the station area

The development area is about five acres surrounding the West Oakland BART Station. Plans call for replacing existing parking with housing, commercial space, and redesigned public areas that prioritize walking, bicycling, and improved connections into the station.

• Housing: 762 total units, including 240 affordable units in the first phase.
• Commercial space: about 53,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and about 300,000 square feet of office space across the master plan.
• Station access upgrades: a new or reconfigured BART plaza, a bike station, and bikeway and streetscape improvements on 5th Street, 7th Street, Mandela Parkway, and Chester Street.

Parking impacts and construction sequencing

During the Feb. 10–17 soil testing period, no more than 60 parking spaces are expected to be taken offline at a time. The testing results are intended to guide any needed environmental remediation and to inform construction phasing.

As construction advances, larger disruptions are planned. BART has stated that construction activities are expected to require the temporary closure of roughly 300 parking spaces. Some parking is expected to return when construction is completed, while about 200 of the affected spaces are planned to be permanently removed under the approved development.

The early-stage work underway in February is designed to determine site conditions before full construction begins later in 2026.

How the project reached this point

The West Oakland station development has been in planning for years. The City of Oakland approved the project’s preliminary development plan in February 2019 and later approved a revised plan in November 2020. BART’s board approved the project in 2020. The development team is operating under the name Mandela Station Partners LLC.

The timeline now points to a mid-2026 start for the initial affordable-housing phase, followed by additional residential and commercial construction as subsequent phases move forward.