Fremont Station Development Moves Toward Developer Shortlist
BART is approaching an anticipated Aug. 15 shortlist announcement for a developer to build the first phase of transit-oriented development at Fremont Station, a proposal that could replace part of the station’s surface parking with housing and neighborhood-serving uses.
The solicitation remains preliminary. BART has not selected a developer, approved a final site plan or authorized construction.
Eight-acre site beside the station
TOD Phase 1 covers approximately 8 acres on the east side of Fremont Station. The site is generally bounded by Mowry Avenue to the north, BART’s aerial tracks and traction power substation to the west, the bus and shuttle intermodal area to the south, and Tule Pond and Waterside Circle to the east.
The property is currently part of a 1,200-space BART rider parking lot. It also includes passenger pick-up and drop-off facilities, pedestrian walkways, access to the station’s eastern concourse and tracks, and access to BART electrical infrastructure.
BART’s development goals call for a predominantly residential, mixed-income project with ground-floor retail and services and potential public open space. The RFP says the project must follow BART’s affordable-housing policy, including a minimum of 20% affordable housing for lower-income households. The eventual number of homes and final affordability mix have not been established.
Riders would retain about 700 spaces
BART’s request for developer proposals says roughly 700 surface parking spaces for BART riders must remain available in areas outside Phase 1 as the project is built. The agency does not require the developer to replace rider parking within the Phase 1 development.
That figure is a planning requirement, not a final operating plan. BART’s Fremont project page says its fall 2025 count found 550 vehicles occupying parking spaces across all Fremont Station lots, providing context for the agency’s plan to develop part of the existing lot while retaining rider parking elsewhere.
Any future project also would need to preserve station operations, passenger circulation, loading, pedestrian and bicycle access, maintenance routes and emergency access. The RFP requires infrastructure that would include a passenger-loading facility accessible from Walnut Avenue, pedestrian and bicycle connections through the site, emergency and BART vehicle access along the trackway, and maintenance and emergency access to the traction power substation.
Fault studies will shape the developable area
The Hayward Fault runs beneath part of the eastern station area, complicating the boundary of the development site. BART says the bus and shuttle intermodal area and a nearby 250-space parking lot are considered undevelopable with current construction technologies.
Most of the Phase 1 area is subject to the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act, although BART says most or all of the area is likely to be sufficiently buffered from the fault. The selected developer would have to conduct additional trenching and fault-buffer studies to determine the precise location and establish where occupied structures could be built.
Shortlist would start negotiations, not approve a project
BART issued the RFP on April 28 and set July 16 as the proposal deadline. Its partial schedule, which is subject to change, anticipates announcing a shortlist on Aug. 15, holding interviews Aug. 24-25 and asking the BART Board in October to consider authorization for an exclusive negotiating agreement.
The evaluation committee will include three members selected by BART and two selected by the City of Fremont. BART’s general manager would make a developer recommendation for Board approval. If the Board authorizes negotiations, BART and the selected developer would still need to work through design, financing, city entitlements, station-access planning, seismic studies and later agreements.
For Fremont riders and nearby residents, the next visible milestone is the anticipated shortlist. It would identify the teams moving into the next stage of negotiations, but it would not establish the final homes, building form, parking layout, construction schedule or project approval.
Sources
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