A proposal to replace a parking lot at the Ashby BART station with an affordable apartment building and a dozen townhomes that would provide a rare opportunity for low-income buyers to own property in Berkeley took a key step forward this week.
The Berkeley City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday night to move into negotiations with the development team that pitched the project, which would bring a total of 174 affordable homes to the 1.9-acre parking lot on the east side of the station.
The project is separate from another development effort that plans to build up to 600 apartments on a larger parking lot just west of the station. The two projects would combine to transform the Ashby BART property with close to 800 new homes over the next several years…