A’s pick Oakland waterfront as site of ‘futuristic’ ball park
The Oakland A’s announced Wednesday they plan to build a futuristic ballpark on the Howard Terminal waterfront site to replace the aging multipurpose Oakland Coliseum and field the team by 2023.
An illustration of the new ballpark shows a facility with a jewel box design, which A’s president Dave Kaval touted as “like nothing you have ever seen.”
He said the ballpark is being designed by the Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group.
The new ballpark would have a seating capacity of about 34,000. The team plans to break ground on the 55-acre property in 2020, or 2021 at the latest, Kaval said.
Kaval said the team is committed to privately financing the stadium but did not specify how much it’s expected to cost, adding it is too early to determine that. In a column for this news organization in September, sports consultant and former A’s executive Andy Dolich estimated construction of the new ballpark at $600 million, although that figure wasn’t tied to this particular proposal.
Kaval said team officials would have a better idea of the cost after they finish an environmental impact review of the Howard Terminal site, which is expected to start this week and last about a year.
“This design will allow us to blur the boundaries of a traditional ballpark and integrate into the surrounding neighborhood,” he said in a team news release that described the planned facility as “a ballpark within a park ... nestled carefully into its urban surroundings.”
Kaval described the stadium as one of the most “intimate” in the country, with decks built close together. A park would wrap around the rim of the stadium that would be open to people on both game days and non-game days.
“It harkens back to the early days of baseball when you would watch baseball in a park,” Kaval said. Surrounding the stadium would be triangular buildings used for apartments, condos, or hotels.
“The plan for Howard Terminal is truly visionary and will serve all Oaklanders for many generations,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a statement. “This is the right project, in the right neighborhood, and at the right price to our taxpayers. I applaud the A’s for developing a community space that will benefit all residents.”
Another bonus, Schaaf said, is that both the Howard Terminal site and a Coliseum redevelopment project would include aspects of affordable and market-rate housing. “We are in a housing crisis, and the idea that keeping our A’s could actually help us also address our housing crisis as well as create good jobs for Oaklanders, that’s what I call a win-win,” she said.
As part of the project, the A’s propose to turn the 155acre Coliseum site into a tech and housing hub, preserving Oracle Arena as a concert and event center and reducing the stadium to a low-rise sports park as San Francisco did with Kezar Stadium. Preliminary plans for the site include a large park surrounded by housing, as well as a “skills center,” community gathering space, office and retail developments, and restaurants, according to the A’s website for the project.
The details of how to do that are not completely worked out. Alameda County has been in talks with both the city of Oakland and the A’s to sell its share of the coliseum. Schaaf told reporters Wednesday the city has identified a financing structure — possibly a bond — to buy out the county’s share of the Coliseum, which could create a simpler path to redevelopment.
Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley didn’t specify how much it would cost the city to buy its stake, but indicated the amount would be less than $100 million. That’s based on an appraisal made within the last four years. Another appraisal may be done before an offer is made, he said.
The A’s have an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Port of Oakland, which owns the Howard Terminal site. Kaval said the two parties are negotiating, and that within the first quarter of next year, they plan to have an option agreement.