'Eyesore' Tiny Homes Castro Valley BART Station Raise Questions: Report

CASTRO VALLEY, CA — When BART officials rented a portion of the Castro Valley Station in 2022 to Spacial Homes to build two tiny homes, they thought it would be a good opportunity to generate income following financial strains brought on by the pandemic.

"Here was the opportunity of underutilized patron parking that could result in a win for all, as we collect rent for the space," Paul Voix, BART Principal Property Development Officer, said back in 2022, praising the deal. "And it allows Spacial a central Bay Area space to showcase their ADUs, which will, in some ways, serve to alleviate the affordable housing crisis in the Bay Area.”

Less than a year later, Spacial Homes ghosted the company, leaving behind the tiny homes and owing more than $150,000 in bills, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

"When mortgage rates shot up, the private equity firm that owned our business decided to stop funding it,” Cory Halbardier, the tiny home company’s former CEO, told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Today, the tiny homes sit tucked away at the far end of the lot, unused for years — and officials are unsure what to do about them, according to the report.

Riders have raised questions about the waste of space, according to the report, and at least one resident called them an "eyesore," while suggesting BART potentially auction them off.

But BART officials don't own the homes, have no interest in buying them and want to collect the money they are owed, according to the report.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.