BCDC leg-up to ‘A’s’ new ballpark plans

Article posted by Coliseum, May 10^th, 2022

Image: Oakland Athletics

The Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) staff recommended on May 2^nd moving forward with the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Oakland Athletics new potential ballpark at Howard Terminal in Oakland (US).

The ‘KRON4’ stated that A’s President Dave Kaval called the development a “massive deal”.

Added Kaval, “It’s a really important milestone for the project. And with that approval and the approval of the City Council, we would have all the necessary approvals to move forward.”

The Oakland Athletics, often referred to as the ‘A’s’, are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California (US). The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League West division. The team plays its home games at the Oakland Coliseum.

The 63,132-capacity Oakland Coliseum, branded as RingCentral Coliseum for naming rights reasons, is a multipurpose stadium in Oakland, California (US). It is located on 7000 Coliseum Way, adjacent to the Oakland Arena along InterState 880.

The ‘A’s’ new venue plans include creating mixed-use development with up to 3,000 residential units, up to 1.5 million square feet of offices and up to 270,000 square feet of retail uses. The proposed development at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal includes plans for a $12 billion mixed-use project built around a $1 billion, 30,000-seat waterfront ballpark.

The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission is a California State Commission dedicated to the protection, enhancement and responsible use of the San Francisco Bay. In 2020, the Commission staff issued a report on the potential impacts of rising sea level.

The ‘KRON4’ further stated that the BCDC supported removing the Port Priority Use designation from Howard Terminal, saying it “would not detract from the region’s capability to meet the projected growth in cargo”. Removing the port designation paves the way for a stadium to be built on that land.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf also expressed her pleasure with the decision. She said the ballpark and its surrounding neighborhood would add 18 acres of new public parks, 3,000 housing units and thousands of jobs – “Today’s (May 2nd) report is great news for Oakland and our region. I appreciate the BCDC staff’s due diligence and their preliminary recommendation to move this project forward and open Oakland’s waterfront to the public. I wholeheartedly agree: The best use of a dormant Howard Terminal is to convert it into a thriving waterfront ballpark neighborhood.”

The ‘A’s’ have been playing at Oakland Coliseum since 1968 and are in the market for a new ballpark. In addition to the proposed stadium at Howard Terminal, in 2021, the ‘A’s’ looked at ballpark sites in Las Vegas (US).

There will be a public hearing for the stadium on June 2^nd and the final vote will be on June 30^th.

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