A’s Defeat Legal Challenge to Ballpark Project

The Oakland A’s appeared to have dodged another obstacle to building a waterfront ballpark.

A superior court has rejected challenges to the environmental impact report that the team released in December 2021 and the city council certified in March. 

The Union Pacific Railroad Company and other marine, port, and transportation interests challenged the city’s certification of the report in a trio of lawsuits the following month.

• The impact report was required by the California Environmental Quality Act for a project of this size. 
• The A’s have proposed a new waterfront ballpark, as well as 3,000 units of housing, 270,000 square feet of retail space, parks, restaurants, and a 400-room hotel as part of a $12 billion project.

The materials submitted by the group challenging the report “do not identify any meaningful changes” and “merely support the conclusions of the EIR,” according to the court’s ruling.

Vegas Awaits

The A’s are simultaneously pursuing the Oakland development and a move to Las Vegas. The team is largely in agreement with the city of Oakland on a new deal, but the city needs to come up with funds for infrastructure improvements to the area surrounding the proposed development.

A $279.5 million appropriation in California’s budget covers much of those funds, but the project could hinge on a $113 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mega program, which supports large projects.