Under their plans for a new Howard Terminal ballpark and Oakland Coliseum redevelopment, the Oakland A’s are proposing 6,000 new housing units, potentially solving a need for the city.
The A’s unveiled plans late last year for a development initiative that was highlighted by the new ballpark at Howard Terminal. Along with the ballpark, which the A’s are hoping to open as early as 2023, the project would add new amenities–including housing–to the waterfront site as part of a mixed-use development. Meanwhile, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum site would be redeveloped to include its own housing units, a tech hub, a youth sports complex, retail, and other amenities.
Should the entire proposal move forward and the A’s maintain its current scope, a total of 6,000 new housing units would be developed, evenly split between the Howard Terminal and Coliseum sites. Given the priority that Oakland officials, including mayor Libby Schaaf, are placing on the development of affordable housing in particular, the new units that would come from the A’s plans could be a welcomed element. However, the team still has plenty of work to do to bring its vision for both sites to reality. More from the Los Angeles Times:
Schaaf is focused on affordable housing, and the considerable help the Athletics might be able to lend. The Oakland housing crisis is about a city pricing out teachers, public safety workers and longtime renters, not about an absence of construction.
“We are having the biggest building boom that we believe we’ve had since the 1906 earthquake,” she said. “What I am really going to be focusing on is how much of that housing is affordable.”
Other major sports teams in California–including the San Francisco Giants and the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams–have also made their moves in the area of housing development, so the A’s are not entirely unique in that respect. Still, the housing component of their overall project could help move their visions for the Howard Terminal and Coliseum sites forward, particularly if it is able to solve a need for more affordable units in the city.
Rendering courtesy Oakland A’s.
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