Caltrain official lived in secret apartment built illegally inside train station

https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/12/caltrain-employee-secret-apartment-burlingame-station-photos/

58•panic•15h ago

Comments

zxexz•15h ago

This would have been excellent had he not misappropriated public funds, IMO.

Also, maybe it’s just perspective, but those photos don’t depict what I would call a “snug” apartment? I mean, there are more windows than most places I’ve lived! Looks like a pretty substantial amount of space.

kelseyfrog•14h ago

I can't imagine not being able to have people over. Having to live in solitude is terrible.

PaulRobinson•13h ago

You can go out with friends, you don't need to always have them over - in fact, shared hobbies is a great way to meet new people.

And, if you should develop a deeper connection with somebody and you trust them, you can let them know what's going on.

lupusreal•13h ago

He had four chairs at his table. Maybe three were decoration but that's a space-expensive way to decorate a small apartment that is otherwise rather devoid of decorations. Also, he was apparently discovered by some other employees two years before an anonymous tip turned him in. I have a feeling more people knew and the only reason the scheme crashes is because he crashed out with somebody.

charcircuit•12h ago

Nowadays you can talk to everyone via the internet.

gavinray•11h ago

Have you never lived in a tiny studio/1 bed apartment?

My wife and I have lived in a space so small we physically can't host people for the last 10 years and it's never bothered us.

You just go out and meet people somewhere else.

datavirtue•9h ago

Yeah, the no room for visitors a feature. Saved me tons of stress.

dbspin•11h ago

One of the things I really couldn't stand about living in Germany. The Ruhezeit (quiet hours) are one thing, but literally every building I lived in in Berlin had whacko neighbours that would immediately complain and threaten to call the police if I had two or three friends over, early evening any day of the week. Just talking, without music playing etc. I don't know how people can live that way long term. Or more significantly why. On the other end of the scale it's perfectly normal for multiple competing trash companies to begin collecting bottles and bins daily from a given housing block - starting as early as seven AM. So you get both no rest and no relaxation.

fmobus•10h ago

7AM is already quite late for Germans.

pchangr•9h ago

LMAO!!!! Have you ever been in a German street at 7am?!!!! Not even breakfast places are open at that time

em-bee•8h ago

germans don't go out for breakfast. even tourists are expected to have breakfast in the hotel. the only places open in the morning are bakeries where you get bread and other things to take home. trainstations sometimes have food for people on the go.

pchangr•8h ago

Sure, and what I meant was .. calling 7am “late” is a bit of an overstatement.. people start working at 8/9 am. Where I come, by 6am you’re already in your car on your way to work/school. And THERE.. 7am is late. But Germany… no.

jaoane•7h ago

Those quiet hours sound like heaven. Signed: person living in Spain.

bredren•14h ago

It seems like an estimated market value of such a dwelling is not included in the "cost" to taxpayers. How much would such a unit be worth?

kristopolous•14h ago

reminds me of an office i put together about 10 years ago. On the 3rd floor we put in a full bedroom, shower, closet ... we didn't actually use it much - turns out people just wanted to go home. Making the office more comfortable doesn't change that.

pinkmuffinere•10h ago

That’s super surprising to me. I have a of a hectic energy, and I love chaos, so maybe it’s just differences in personality, but I already sleep in the office on occasion. Having a bedroom and shower would make it very nice

em-bee•8h ago

the problem is that it is not your personal space. you may be alone many times but you don't have guaranteed privacy. and it's not personalized. it's like staying in a hotel, without the service and less privacy.

to wind off after work i want my own space, not just some place where i can sleep.

moralestapia•14h ago

The guy was making 300k+ a year, wow.

bestouff•14h ago

This guy should definitely be punished. But when you see the level of money embezzlement top officials can get away with, whereas this guys gets prison time, you can only feel a bit sad.

TheOtherHobbes•10h ago

I'm wondering if he has a bigger house elsewhere he was renting out.

Even if they get him to pay back the $42k, that's still only around $14k of rent a year.

And he's not going to be paying rent while he's in jail.

nohat00•14h ago

They should AirBnB these units out. this guy creates a whole new revenue stream for Caltrain. This story is pretty crazy, this guy built not one but two secret livable apartments with bathrooms and kitchens inside daily, actively used train stations?

Animats•14h ago

Many of the CALTRAIN stations have a historic Southern Pacific station building that's not used much. They're from the days of ticket windows and luggage service. Palo Alto has a cafe in theirs, and used to have a bike shop. San Carlos has a cafe. But Burlingame wasn't in use.

If he'd built the thing with his own money, it wouldn't be so bad. But he stole the money for the job.

Stratoscope•14h ago

https://archive.is/rEfSl

raymondgh•14h ago

Finally, pictures of the inside! That’s what I really wanted to see when I heard about this last year

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/28/ex-caltrain-employee-...

fsckboy•14h ago

photos https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/06/12/secret-caltrain-apart...

Aurornis•13h ago

> Navarro earned $235,000 in 2021, plus $95,000 in other pay and benefits,

Over $300K compensation and zero rent. Guy probably thought he was accelerating his retirement funds.

I wonder what he planned to do with the space when he finally retired. Spend more funds to demolish the evidence?

sokoloff•10h ago

Create a new project in a future year budget to “build” it and pocket that new money (maybe steering the projects to friendly subs) as well?

readthenotes1•13h ago

Only $42k? They should get that guy to tell California how to build for the homeless

WesolyKubeczek•12h ago

“First, you must remember to reuse the existing infrastructure as much as possible, it brings the cost of connecting the utilities way down. Disused train stations are a great example; you can also try town halls and museums; and you may experiment with unused mall sections, but from my experience, it's better to use a public space than a private one.”

“Why?”

“The mall owners can get really twitchy if they can't profit off those square feet.”

“I see. So, public underused spaces with intact utilities, you say?”

“That's right. Oh, and remember to keep all your invoices under $3,000.”

“Why that?”

“Funny you should ask, I clearly remember it being really important back in my time, but now that I think more of it, I guess it's just a habit I picked up.”

bdcravens•7h ago

Given the nature of what he was building, I assume he bypassed various permits, inspections, code, etc.

absurdo•7h ago

Suppose he built to code, without having permits or inspections. What do you estimate the cost to be?

hedora•6h ago

The code probably says this room can't be in that building, so you'd probably need to level the entire train station building and start over. $10M?

Something like that, in an existing backyard shed with pre-run plumbing + electricty with no permits? That'd cost roughly what he paid. I didn't see any obvious code violations in the picture, except probably ADA stuff due to it being too small for wheelchairs.

ch33zer•13h ago

If you were wondering like me how this dude was making so much working for a public railroad, this was (maybe) his job: (1). Chief Engineering and Project Delivery, making $209,903.00 - $314,855.00. I'm just basing this on the fact that it's an open position in the right salary range.

(1) https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/smctd/caltrain/jobs/4...

hoseyor•13h ago

From the article: “ Navarro earned $235,000 in 2021, plus $95,000 in other pay and benefits…”

Simon_O_Rourke•11h ago

That's good money, and better yet if you don't need to blow it on rent.

ww520•11h ago

Salary history of public employees.

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=Joseph+...

betimsl•11h ago

Awesome.

ZoomZoomZoom•10h ago

Am I lacking some common knowledge here? I expected some plans and explanations of the circumstances that lead to this specific piece of property staying hidden for so long. Was it an abandoned wing? Where's the entry? Was the door hidden or disguised in some way? TFA has only photos of the inside and lots of $ numbers. Pretty disappointing.

Aurornis•6h ago

It looks like some extra office space rooms.

These people managed entire buildings. They knew how to find some extra office space that wasn’t currently in use.

datavirtue•9h ago

"Stealing" is a big stretch here. He should have lawyered this into oblivion. Nonetheless, the benefit is non-returnable and the prison sentence is basically nil so he made out.

Aurornis•6h ago

If you misappropriate work funds or resources for your own personal gain, that’s stealing.

He made good money (over $300K) and wasn’t paying rent for years. I’m sure he lawyered up.

But embezzlement like this is an open and shut case.

mo_s•6h ago

Now this is what I call mixed use development!

Anam

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