Oakland says it’s in no rush to approve new A’s ballpark.
With hearings set to begin today, the Oakland City Council appears to be in no rush to approve the Oakland A’s ambitious plan for a waterfront ballpark development at Howard Terminal.
“We have a lot of questions,” Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo said. “We are not going to be rushed. It is going to be done on our timeline, not the A’s timeline,” Councilman Dan Kalb added. “We need more information,” Councilwoman Nikki
Fortunato Bas said.
The A’s are hoping to have final approval for the Howard Terminal deal by the end of next year, with the goal of opening it by 2023.
The team has already won a tentative nod from the Oakland Port Commission and is working with state lawmakers on a pair of bills — one written by Assemblyman Rob Bonta to streamline the permitting process and a second bill by Sen. Nancy Skinner to allow the creation of a new tax district to help cover millions of dollars in infrastructure costs.
And while the megadevelopment — it includes housing, offices, retail and park space — has the support of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and several polls show it appears to be popular with voters, final approval of the project and its infrastructure and financing plan will be up to the City Council.
And so far, the council members, who are keenly aware that they’ll have to answer to the voters for any financing deal and development, say they have been given little information to go on so far.
“One of the biggest questions people have is transportation,” Kalb said. “How are people going to get to and from the ballpark? We’ve all heard about the plan for an overhead gondola from downtown. That’s an interesting idea, but we need to see a much more comprehensive plan.”
Another big question is who will pay for the roads, walkways, sewer lines and other support structures needed for the privately financed development to pencil out.
So far the team has been tight-lipped.
“We are working with the city on the infrastructure plan,” team spokeswoman Catherine Aker said.
The A’s have yet to submit an infrastructure cost estimate. However, council members said privately they are expecting an “ask” of about $200 million — that’s roughly the amount of infrastructure help the city offered the Raiders in its ill-fated effort to strike a deal on a new football stadium back in 2017.
“It is reasonable to assume that the city would consider doing the same for the Athletics at Howard Terminal,” Mayor Schaaf said in an April 19 letter to Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval.
But Schaaf drew the line at current city tax dollars for the project. Instead, she and the A’s are supporting a bill authored by state Sen. Skinner to set up a special tax district around the stadium to help cover the costs with new money generated by the 34,000-seat ballpark, the 3,000 units of housing, a 400-room hotel, and the retail and office space included in the project.
“This bill can provide tax increment solutions for other projects in Oakland, creating a lasting benefit beyond the ballpark” such as work on sea level rise resiliency, the expansion of bay trails along the waterfront and street repairs in the area, Aker said.
But again, the council wants to see the details before giving the nod.
“I’m not for or against the Howard Terminal project, but I want to know how much public money would be spent inside the development, and how much public money would be for infrastructure adjacent to the development,” Kalb said.
“We don’t want to give anyone the impression that we are supporting something we have not discussed,” Fortunato Bas said.
And council President Rebecca Kaplan said she wants “to remove any language implying that a decision has already been made about a ballpark.”
In another twist, council members are also grousing about the A’s purchase of the county’s half share of the 130-acre current Coliseum site across town.
If they were going to stay at the Coliseum, I would have understood their desire to buy it, but if they are going to Howard Terminal and they still want the Coliseum site, that strikes me as a bit greedy,” Kalb said of the A’s.
Oakland had hoped to gain control of the county’s half interest on the East Oakland site for itself, making it the sole owner.
“They just went around us,” Councilman Larry Reid said.
And word is the council is exploring options, possibly to block the sale.
Not exactly the best way to start negotiations.
The first hearing on the state bills is scheduled for a special City Council meeting Wednesday at 3 p.m.
“It’s going to get interesting,” Gallo said. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phillip Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier