California Transit Agency Land Could Support 240,000 Homes

California lawmakers have spent years passing bills aimed at increasing housing supply, with an emphasis on building more homes near transit.

A new analysis from Enterprise Community Partners finds that transit agencies across the state own thousands of parcels that could, in theory, be used for housing – a potential lever as the state tries to address an entrenched affordability crisis.

In its report, Assessing the Potential of Transit Agency-Owned Land for Housing Development in California, Enterprise identified 2,875 transit agency-owned parcels that meet basic size and suitability thresholds for housing. Those sites total 7,827 acres statewide.

Using typical affordable housing densities by region and parcel size, Enterprise estimates the parcels could potentially accommodate nearly 240,000 housing units. More than one in five of the parcels — 637 sites — are either vacant or currently used as surface or structured parking. Those lots alone could hold an estimated 30,761 units, the report said.

The inventory arrives as the Legislature considers technical changes to Senate Bill 79, a transit-oriented development (TOD) measure signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year that makes it easier to build denser housing near certain bus and rail stops in select counties.

Transit land isn’t a “silver bullet;” it’s an opportunity

California needs to add 2.5 million homes over the next eight years, including at least 1 million affordable units, according to the report. Enterprise does not argue that transit-agency land can close that gap on its own, but it positions public land as a meaningful source of sites that could help reduce the shortage.

“Transit agency-owned parcels are an excellent opportunity to use public land for public good,” the authors wrote, adding that development could also support transit ridership while reducing driving.

Enterprise estimates that 1,179 parcels – 41% of the total inventory – fall within SB 79 zones, meaning they sit near high-quality transit where the law allows taller and denser residential projects. Many of the sites are currently used as stations, park-and-ride lots, bus depots or rail support facilities, and not all of them will be realistic candidates for housing.

The report emphasizes that the 240,000-unit figure is a theoretical maximum and does not fully account for existing operational needs or site-specific constraints. Enterprise frames the parcel list as a baseline map that can help agencies, cities and state officials focus on the most viable opportunities.

What Enterprise says it will take to convert sites into units

To move from theoretical capacity to completed homes, Enterprise recommends a policy agenda focused on funding, prioritization and agency capacity.

Key recommendations include:

• Create a dedicated state funding stream for housing on transit-agency land, with strong affordability requirements and tools to help close financing gaps.
• Prioritize transit-agency parcels within existing affordable housing funding programs, encouraging state, regional and local funders to elevate these projects in competitive award processes.
• Build real estate and affordable housing expertise inside transit agencies, especially smaller systems that lack staff to structure joint-development deals. Enterprise points to state-funded technical assistance, peer learning and partnerships with cities, counties or joint powers authorities as potential solutions.
• Encourage adoption of board-level policies that discount land and prioritize affordability, similar to efforts at BART, LA Metro and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the report said.

A case study: Santa Cruz’s Pacific Station North Apartments

Enterprise points to the Pacific Station North Apartments in Santa Cruz as an example of how transit-oriented affordable housing can work on public land.

In that project, the city and Santa Cruz Metro partnered with nonprofit developers to replace an aging transit hub with a new bus center and a 128-unit affordable housing development. The partners used a parcel swap to create a viable development site and relied on state housing and infrastructure programs to fund transit, bike and pedestrian improvements.

SB 79 implementation remains uneven as lawmakers weigh fixes

Lawmakers filed a bill in January stating their intent to make technical and clarifying changes to SB 79. California YIMBY, a backer of the effort, has said the changes would tighten definitions and eliminate ambiguities that could slow implementation.

SB 79’s rollout has faced obstacles tied to how qualifying transit stops are defined. Representatives from the San Diego Association of Governments and the Southern California Association of Governments have argued that the state needs clearer direction before they can release TOD maps required under the law by July 1.

The debate has also exposed fault lines among Democrats, with pro-housing lawmakers backing state-level upzoning while others argue the law goes too far in limiting local control.

Enterprise’s report argues the development capacity exists on paper. The next question is whether state leaders and transit agencies can convert that land into housing quickly enough to meaningfully affect affordability.