San Francisco

A's Team Leaders Eyeing Waterfront Site For New Ballpark

The Oakland Athletics may be taking a new look at an "old" site – the Howard Terminal.

On Thursday, team owners will check out the cargo loading area at the Port of Oakland as a site for potential new ballpark, A’s officials confirmed Wednesday. Instead of touring with city leaders, owners will survey the soil and sea wall with engineers and port leaders. Some think that’s a sign they’re getting more serious about finding the A’s a new home.

“It’s a beautiful site. It’s close to the water, to the amenities of Jack London Square,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who has been a vocal advocate of the baseball team building at Howard Terminal.

“I don’t want to get everyone too excited,” said Schaaf, quickly continuing: “The exciting thing is the A’s are definitely staying in Oakland. They are evaluating their options. They’re doing serious analyses of sites like Howard Terminal.”

City leaders have touted the site in the past, only to have discussions stall because of environmental hurdles, the lack of parking and distance from public transportation.

The proposed new ballpark would be about a mile from the nearest BART station, which is closer than AT&T Park is from Embarcadero station. However, the waterfront walk in San Francisco is thought to be safer than the journey from BART to Howard Terminal.

The owners are "also still interested in building at the current Coliseum complex," A's officials say.

Schaaf says one advantage to getting the A’s off the Coliseum site is it gives the Raiders an opportunity to build a football-only stadium – meaning, a solution that could keep both teams in town.

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