A’s have a custom pitch for Oakland

Dave Kaval, the A’s president, knows exactly what not to do in pitching a new ballpark in Oakland. This is not Las Vegas, so desperate for a professional sports franchise status that it would put up $750 million in public money to lure the Raiders, and ask questions later, if at all. Hyperbole just doesn’t play in The Town anymore. Oakland has been around the block, and knows the right questions to ask. It wants to be consulted and convinced, not seduced. The Raiders and the Warriors are planning to abandon the Coliseum complex with many millions in public debt still to be paid off for the stadium and arena that were renovated for them in the mid-1990s.

The A’s recognize that they need to go slow. They have selected a preferred site, 13 acres near Laney College owned by the Peralta Community College District. They are presenting neither renderings of the ballpark nor grandiose promises of the economic activity it will bring to the neighborhood. They are promising to cover the entire cost of a ballpark that could be $500 million or more. They are on a slow-track timeline that would have the opening in 2023.

I’ve heard more than a few stadium pitches over the years. None had quite this dose of deference and, well, humility, especially considering the effervescence of the main salesman.

“It’s not just going to be our project,” Kaval told our editorial board Thursday, promising collaboration that would begin with a yearlong listening tour. “It’s going to be the city’s project.”

The A’s did not choose the path of least resistance, which would have been rebuilding on the Coliseum site, with a vast tract of land, little chance of neighborhood opposition and great freeway and BART access. They passed up the option of emulating the Giants with a ballpark on the water near Jack London Square because of its distance from BART and climate studies that suggested it would be as chilly as the old Candlestick Park.

Instead, the A’s are going for a site they believe will be quintessential Oakland, with views facing the hills, the skyline and Lake Merritt.

“When it’s on TV — boom — you’re going to know you’re in Oakland right away,” Kaval said. “I think that’s a great thing for the community. It’s a postcard or an advertisement for the city as well.”

Yet, again, a town that has embraced two other teams, only to be losing them, is not so easily impressed. Voices already have risen against the A’s plan from neighborhood activists, Laney College faculty members and the local Audubon Society worried about the impact on birds. The project could accelerate gentrification in a city where residents are feeling vulnerable about the possibility of displacement.

“I have not hidden from the fact that these are the very concerns that made this site not my first choice,” Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a phone interview last week. “I’ve been very consistent about that. But that doesn’t mean that these concerns can’t be addressed. And I strongly believe that the A’s deserve the audience, they deserve the opportunity to demonstrate that they can address these concerns.”

For Schaaf, the key points are that they A’s want to stay in Oakland and are willing to pay for their ballpark. She pledged to help facilitate a “robust community process” that could enhance the team’s chances.

The challenges between now and groundbreaking are considerable. Foremost of all, the A’s do not have control of those 13 acres, or even an offer to buy or lease them from the college.

“From my perspective, which is not one solidly based on real estate because I’m a teacher, I would think the lease would be a good way for us to go,” Peralta district Chancellor Jowel Laguerre said in an interview, suggesting the “ongoing revenue” could help its four schools with technology and infrastructure investments.

Another big question is whether the East Bay has the corporate and highwealth individual base to support a privately financed ballpark through sponsorships, seat licenses and luxury suites.

Kaval is bullish on both Oakland and the site. He said a new ballpark on the Coliseum grounds would not attract close to the same investment — or opportunities for ancillary development, which the team intends to tap — as one within walking distance of downtown and many thousands of residents.

“What is around a ballpark matters,” he said. “It will actually lead to its success, whether or not people are going to a Tuesday night against Baltimore or Cleveland to watch a game. The vibrancy, whether you can go to a cafe or a bar or a Chinese restaurant . ... That’s what makes it authentic and exciting and different.”

It’s just the first inning in a long game. But it’s apparent that the A’s came prepared to play ... within Oakland’s rules. They’re off to a smart start.