Oakland A's Narrow Their Location Choices for New Stadium
Last we heard, the Oakland A’s were considering four potential sites for a new baseball stadium now that they’ll be the only pro game in town with the Raiders and Warriors on their way out.
The four potential landing spots are the current site of the Oakland Coliseum in Central East Oakland, a waterfront park at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal in West Oakland, a site near Laney College in Downtown Oakland, and a site in the Brooklyn Basin development project.
Now, Oakland Magazine reports that sources on the inside say the baseball club has narrowed its choices down to two. According to four different sources, it’s likely to come down to the Laney College site close to Lake Merritt or a waterfront site at Howard Terminal next to Jack London Square. Two of the sources say the Laney College site is the frontrunner, at least for now.
It should be noted that after the story was published, A's President Dave Kaval called Oakland Magazine and told them that the Oakland Coliseum site “is still on the table,” though the sources all felt it was simply a fallback option at this point.
What makes the Laney College site so appealing is its close proximity to Interstate 880 and the Lake Merritt BART station. The Howard Terminal is roughly a mile from the closest BART station. Meanwhile, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has publicly stated she supports the Howard Terminal option as the best one given how it could affect the surrounding neighborhood. The owner of the A’s has blasted the idea of a Howard Terminal stadium in years past.
There’s still a lot left to sort through before the A’s make a decision. If the team does leave the Coliseum site, that will leave a very large tract of land vacant and the next big idea will be about what the city does with it.