Now that all three teams have committed to leaving the Oakland Coliseum complex, you may be wondering what's going to happen to the 130-acre property. Well, the Oakland A's have an idea and it calls for them to be the developer.
If everything goes as planned, by 2022 this will no longer be the home of the Oakland A's. They selected a site near Jack London Square for a new stadium. But, that doesn't mean they're through with the old one.
Oakland A's President Dave Kaval says after the Warriors, Raiders and A's leave the site, the baseball team wants to redevelop the area into a youth sports academy. "I think you build a recreational complex that includes baseball, and soccer, a skill center and maybe a workplace development center," Kaval said.
Kaval says everyone wins because young people will have a place to go, professional teams will have a pipeline to new talent, and Oakland gets new jobs. But, the idea is not getting everyone's seal of approval.
City Councilman Larry Reid says there are already baseball diamonds and soccer fields in East Oakland. What they need are good paying jobs. "There are a number of developers there that would like to acquire that site or lease it for 99 years and put what I think are some higher and better uses on that site," Reid said.
Like affordable housing and retail. The A's say that's part of their plan too, eventually. But, there are some in Oakland city government who haven't given up on convincing the A's to build their new stadium on existing coliseum property. "I respect their business decision, but my first reaction is you couldn't ask for a better location than currently sits here," Oakland City Council Noel Gallo said.
If everything goes as planned, by 2022 this will no longer be the home of the Oakland A's. They selected a site near Jack London Square for a new stadium. But, that doesn't mean they're through with the old one.
Oakland A's President Dave Kaval says after the Warriors, Raiders and A's leave the site, the baseball team wants to redevelop the area into a youth sports academy. "I think you build a recreational complex that includes baseball, and soccer, a skill center and maybe a workplace development center," Kaval said.
Kaval says everyone wins because young people will have a place to go, professional teams will have a pipeline to new talent, and Oakland gets new jobs. But, the idea is not getting everyone's seal of approval.
City Councilman Larry Reid says there are already baseball diamonds and soccer fields in East Oakland. What they need are good paying jobs. "There are a number of developers there that would like to acquire that site or lease it for 99 years and put what I think are some higher and better uses on that site," Reid said.
Like affordable housing and retail. The A's say that's part of their plan too, eventually. But, there are some in Oakland city government who haven't given up on convincing the A's to build their new stadium on existing coliseum property. "I respect their business decision, but my first reaction is you couldn't ask for a better location than currently sits here," Oakland City Council Noel Gallo said.
