Artist’s rendering of the proposed Howard Terminal ballpark in Oakland (image by the Oakland A’s)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The City of Oakland City Council will take a vote in February to decide on approving a 3500 page environmental impact study after the Oakland Planning Commission takes a January 19th vote on recommending the $12 billion project. A lot hinges on the future of the Oakland A’s on whether they stay in Oakland or not based on the how the Commission and the City Council move forward with what they see in the impact report.

The release of the project report is considered a major step forward for the A’s towards a new 35,000 seat ballpark at Howard Terminal and Jack London Square but also development of 3,000 units of housing, offices to the size of 1.7 million feet of space, retail space up to 270,000 feet, a 3500 capacity entertainment venue, hotel rooms with a capacity of 400 rooms, and 8900 parking spaces.

The hope is to improve Howard Terminal and turn it into a destination, a hot venue spot in downtown Oakland with the crown jewel being the ballpark. The key environmental issues that are of concern to move the project forward, affordable housing, toxic waste removal at the port shipyard, public transit and how to access around the railroad tracks that are in place at the terminal, where parking will be built and how access roads to get to parking and the terminal and how will that get done, and how traffic will impact Chinatown which is just down Broadway Street in downtown.

Oakland A’s team president David Kaval who has made numerous trips since the close of the regular baseball season to Las Vegas and has considered various sites near the Las Vegas strip for a new A’s ballpark if it doesn’t work out in Oakland. Which includes the Tropicana on the strip, Summerlin near the A’s minor league ballpark, or Henderson home of the Las Vegas minor league hockey team the Silver Knights. Kaval has not made a commitment to Vegas.

Kaval did express excitement about the planning commission and the City Council in hopes to move forward with the impact report including the January 19th vote. Kaval called the 3500 page plan an “enormous accomplishment” and feels things are headed in the right direction as the A’s have made it clear that their first choice is to stay in Oakland.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Kaval have made it clear that the City of Oakland needs to get on board with the A’s if they want to keep the A’s in Oakland and this latest step with the impact report just might be that new beginning.

Jerry Feitelberg is a beat writer for the Oakland A’s at http://www.sportsradioservice.com