• Loading stock data...
Friday, June 6, 2025

Housing Is Sticking Point in Oakland A’s $12B Ballpark Negotiations

  • Housing is a key point of contention in negotiations around a new Oakland A’s ballpark.
  • City officials insist 15% of new units be affordable.
Oakland-As
Oakland Athletics

The Oakland A’s proposed $12 billion waterfront development could hinge on an issue very familiar to Bay Area residents: housing. 

Negotiations between the city and team encompass a host of issues, but affordable housing in the development area near the stadium appears to have the greatest potential to sink the project.

  • Some city council members and mayor Libby Schaaf are insisting that 15% (450) of the project’s 3,000 units be priced below market rate. 
  • The city also wants the team to pay for the construction or preservation of another 600 affordable units in surrounding neighborhoods.
  • Team president Dave Kaval has referred to the city’s affordable housing requirements, which would require 7-12% of the units to be below market-rate depending on the details of the project, per SFGate (Kaval has cited the figure as 5%).

“Many council members feel that the [draft] term sheet this council developed is a very generous deal for the Oakland A’s,” said council member Dan Kalb. 

The project faces a key commission vote on June 30 over whether the area the A’s plan to build on will be redesignated from being exclusively for port use. 

Payback Play

Housing is not the only roadblock: The two sides also need to agree on how much the team can recover in tax revenue. 

Last year, the team proposed a plan in which it would recover $855 million in infrastructure improvements and adjustments through tax revenue from the surrounding area, some of which is already developed. 

The city countered with a proposal that removed around $352 million in paybacks from the A’s proposal.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

White Sox Deal Signals Ninth Inning for Reinsdorf’s MLB Legacy

One of MLB’s elder statesmen still has a lengthy to-do list.
Reinsdorf

Jerry Reinsdorf Agrees to Complex Deal With Ishbias for White Sox

The deal keeps Reinsdorf in control until at least 2029.

Manfred: MLB Wants New Media-Rights Deal Before All-Star Game

Talks continue with three bidders, and a decision is expected soon.

MLB TV Ratings Jump: Fox Up 10%, ESPN Hits Eight-Year High

Each of the league’s national rights holders is posting audience gains.

Featured Today

May 27, 2015; Paris, France; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) knocks the clay off her shoe during her match against Simona Halep (ROU) on day four of the French Open at Roland Garros

Roland-Garros’s Iconic Red-Clay Surface Is a Precise Alchemy

The exact science behind maintaining the French Open’s red clay.
Alex Jensen introductory press conference on Monday, March 17, 2025.
June 3, 2025

Alex Jensen Started Utah Utes HC Job While Still Coaching the Mavs

How Jensen began building an NCAA program while patrolling the Dallas sideline.
May 31, 2025

PSG and the City of Paris Can Join European Soccer’s Elite

What a maiden Champions League title would mean for the French club.
May 30, 2025

How the Champions League Anthem Took on a Life of Its Own

The composer didn’t know he wrote a timeless hit three decades ago.
Soccer

Chicago Stars Aren’t Asking for Taxpayer Stadium Money—Yet

A unique new law will compel Illinois lawmakers to consider women’s teams.
June 2, 2025

Bears Suburban Stadium Deal Inching Forward Despite Cost Questions

State legislators discussed a Bears-friendly bill, but ran out of time.
June 3, 2025

While Bears and White Sox Stall, Chicago Fire Make Stadium Move

The proposed $650 million stadium will be privately financed.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

In Episode 7 of Portfolio Players, go inside the boardroom with Avenue Capital CEO and former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on Giannis’s future, women’s sports, and upstart leagues like TGL and Unrivaled. 
Dec 26, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; A general view of Soldier Field before a game between the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks
May 30, 2025

Pritzker Was a Hard ‘No’ on Bears Stadium. Now Maybe Not

The state spent $100,000 on a legal consultant.
May 30, 2025

Chiefs, Royals Stadium Plans Hit Political Wall As Both Parties Say No

Both Republicans and Democrats in Missouri oppose public funding for stadiums.
Feb 14, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the Kansas City Royals 1985 and 2015 World Series championships on the scoreboard at Kauffman Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex.
May 28, 2025

Chiefs, Royals Stadium Public Funding Standoff Nears Endgame

Missouri legislators will review stadium bonds for the Chiefs and Royals.
U.S. Women's Golf
May 27, 2025

U.S Women’s Open Will Play on Courses Once Reserved for Men

Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin is hosting this week’s tournament.