A’s plan new waterfront ballpark
OAKLAND, California — Dave Kaval can look out his office window and immediately envision the new privately funded ballpark he plans to get built, and it now feels like much more of a reality — with renderings and a real plan, not to mention the city’s support.
The Oakland Athletics have found a waterfront location for their ballpark, with picturesque views toward San Francisco, the Bay Bridge and Port of Oakland. Plans were announced Wednesday, with a goal of opening in 2023. There is no announced price at this stage, and Kaval didn’t want to even share an estimate. A California Environmental Quality Act assessment will begin immediately.
Kaval, the enthusiastic team president who oversaw a successful new stadium for Major League Soccer’s San Jose Earthquakes, had hoped to finalize a site by the end of the year, and the team settled on the Howard Terminal site near Jack London Square after meeting with 500 members of the community and nearly 80 organizations. He plans to host an open house today for community members and fans to learn more.
“We did a tremendous amount of community engagement where we listened to people in West Oakland, in East Oakland and I think what we found is this project is bigger than baseball,” Kaval said. “It’s not just a ballpark, it’s something that could have a lasting impact in a positive way on our community here in Oakland to ensure the A’s are here for another 50 or 100 years or really basically forever.”
The ballpark site is about 10 kilometres from the Oakland Coliseum and there is no mass transit. The A’s and city said they plan to build a gondola that would go from the waterfront area of ballpark over Interstate 880 to downtown.
The team’s new downtown offices will have a view of the project, including right from Kaval’s large corner window.
The club, coming off its first playoff berth since 2014, had to switch gears after a proposed plan at Laney College fell through last December. The board of the Peralta Community College District said it had directed the chancellor to discontinue talks about a possible ballpark near Laney College, one of three original sites considered including Howard Terminal.
In addition, the A’s intend to redevelop the site around the aging, rundown Oakland Coliseum they have long shared with the NFL’S Oakland Raiders, who plan their own move to Las Vegas. The Golden State Warriors will begin playing in San Francisco at new Chase Center next year.
“The significant thing is the A’s are positioning themselves as Oakland’s team. With both the Raiders leaving and the Warriors leaving, the A’s are Oakland’s team,” county supervisor Nate Miley said.