MAC Approves Plan for Condos Near BART

A property owner wants to subdivide existing market-rate townhomes near the Castro Valley BART station, and the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) approved the plan at its regular land use meeting on Monday night.

The site, located at 21091 Wilbeam Avenue, has been the location of eight condominium units since May of 2021. The current owner, Pleasanton-based Ingelo Investment, wants to divide the existing three-bedroom, 3-and-a-half-bath units internally.

The condos are in two basically identical structures, which house four units each. The BART station is located to the southeast of the condos, and there is a variety of other multi-unit housing in the surrounding area.

The proposed subdivision would turn the eight existing units into 16, a number that is consistent with the county's approved density for the area.

There has been a 20-year journey in getting housing on the Wilbeam site. The property was originally approved for ten condos back in June of 2003, but that project fell through. Another proposal to build 18 townhomes was approved in June 2004, but the developers didn’t move forward with construction, and the approval for that project eventually lapsed.

The MAC and other government boards throughout the Bay Area have long been proponents of higher-density housing located near transportation centers, such as the BART station. The zoning could be approved at this site for up to 29 units per acre.

The approved plan would be an airspace subdivision, meaning the property would be divided into units along its vertical height. No physical changes to the exteriors would be made.

County planners recommended the project for approval pending certain conditions: the property must maintain a minimum of 200 square feet of usable common open space and 300 square feet of private open space per unit, and the Homeowner’s Association of the subdivision must maintain onsite stormwater treatment measures as well as properly care for all landscaped areas.