The San Jose City Council will vote tomorrow on a set of goals and principles to guide city officials in their negotiations with the Oakland A’s over a new downtown ballpark.The San Jose City Council will vote tomorrow on a set of goals and principles to guide city officials in their negotiations with the Oakland A’s over a new downtown ballpark.
This isn’t the first time the city has worked with pro sports over a facilties game plan — in the 1990s the city’s development agency invested $135 million in HP Pavilion, the home of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks — and that experience is leading Mayor Chuck Reed to think the city can turn a profit on a new 32,000-seat ballpark.
Any new A’s ballpark will come with some conditions: the A’s must pay for it (although the city may give the team a break on the land), it must generate new revenue that outpaces any land contributions, it must be subject to a referendum, and it must not take any money from the city’s general funds. Fairly standard clauses for any major-league facility these days. In addition, there will be neighborhood representation
Of course, it may all be for naught: San Jose is still within the San Francisco Giants’ territory, and the Giants are not expected to give it up without a struggle. A task force appointed by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has been tasked to address the team’s ballpark needs, and the territorial issue is expected to be addressed by the group. If the task force concludes the Giants should give up the territory, that will give Selig cover to force a deal.
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