APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
___________________________
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. ______________ C.M.S.
RESOLUTION AFFIRMING THAT THE OAKLAND A’S BELONG IN
OAKLAND, AND RECOGNIZING THE SUBSTANTIAL AND TANGIBLE
PROGRESS THE CITY HAS ACHIEVED IN WORKING TOWARD A
PROPOSED OAKLAND WATERFRONT BALLPARK DISTRICT TO BE
DEVELOPED ON THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS THE HOWARD
TERMINAL (ADJACENT TO THE FERRY DOCK AND THE AREA
KNOWN AS JACK LONDON SQUARE) AT THE PORT OF OAKLAND.
WHEREAS, the Port of Oakland (Port) is a department of the City of Oakl and (City) established in 1927 pursuant to an amendment to the City Charte r, vesting management and operational authorities over the areas within the City known as the Port Area; and
WHEREAS, the Howard Terminal property, located at 1 Market Street and i mmediately adjacent to Jack London Square, is approximately 55 land acres (Howard Terminal), of which approximately 50 acres are located within the Port Area managed and operated by the Port; and
WHEREAS, the Athletics Investment Group LLC, d/b/a the Oakland Athletic s, a California limited liability company (A’s), proposed developmen t of the Waterfront Ballpark District at the Howard Terminal that would include a new, 35,00 0-person capacity ballpark (Ballpark), together with up to 3,000 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of office space, and 270,000 square feet of mixed retail, cultural and civic uses, a s well as a 3,500-seat performance theater, up to 400 hotel rooms, and approximately 18 acres of new, publicly- accessible open space (the Project) through land use applications with the City of Oa kland, which applications are still open and pending; and
WHEREAS, the A’s have negotiated separately with the Port for leases to use the Howard Terminal Property for the Project; and
WHEREAS, the A’s have stated they would invest a projected cost of $1 bi llion for the Project; and
WHEREAS, the City Council and the Mayor believe the A’s belong in in Oakland; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to City Council Resolution No. 87998 C.M.S., dated Ja nuary 21, 2020, the City and Port entered into that certain Memorandum of Understanding Between City and Port Regarding Howard Terminal O akland A’s Ballpark Project (MO U), setting forth princip les of a shared regulatory framework between the Port and the City for the Project; and ___________________________
2 WHEREAS, on February 26, 2021, the City issued a Notice of Availability and released the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Project, pu rsuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Assembly Bill 734; and
WHEREAS, on February 17, 2022 per Resolution 89045 C.M.S., the City Cou ncil certified an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the A’s proposed Project; and
WHEREAS, in legal challenges brought by outside interest groups, on September 21, 2022 the Alameda County Superior Court ruled that the EIR is legally adequate and complies with CEQA, and the California Court of Appeal upheld that ruling and denied an appeal on March 30, 2023; and the time to seek review in the California Supreme Court has long since passed, meaning that the EIR is legally adequate and can be used for consideration of the final Project applications; and
WHEREAS, much of Oakland’s community, including parts of West Oakland an d Chinatown, have been harmed by past infrastructure projects that demolished and undermined key community assets, and any new project must improve, and not har m, conditions for long-time disparately-impacted communities; and
WHEREAS, the City believes it is important that projects on public land s include plans and strategies to benefit the local community, including local hire, jobs standards, affordable housing, anti-displacement support, and pedestrian safety, among others; and
WHEREAS, the Community and Economic Development (CED) Committee of the City Council received, on July 7, 2021 (CED Meeting), an Informational Report and conducted a study session focused on certain key terms of any future Development Agreement, including an infrastructure financing district, non-relocation, affordable housing, and other community benefits; and
WHEREAS, at the CED Meeting, Councilmembers provided feedback on various aspects of the Project and Development Agreement terms, including:
A. Support for an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (I FD) over the Property, including the pursuit of participation from both the City and Alameda County;
B. Request to continue to pursue a range of outside/additional funding resources, including regional, State, and Federal transportation/infrastructure funding; and
WHEREAS, the City Council, on July 20, 2021, through Resolution No. 8874 4 C.M.S. and subsequently, has approved certain terms to enable moving forward with a proposed ballpark project at Howard Terminal (Terms); and
WHEREAS, since the time of the prior City Council approvals of Terms in July of 2021, the City’s staff, consulting team, and elected officials have a chieved the following additional important steps toward the success of the Project:
• Certified a legally adequate EIR for the Project, and successful defense against legal challenges
3 • Pursued and obtained $428 million in grant funding for off-sit e infrastructure in the neighborhoods around the proposed stadium and the Projec t area; and continue to pursue additional grant funding
• Worked successfully to achieve the removal of the Port Priorit y Use designation for the Howard Terminal property by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
• Identified additional opportunities for public financing throu gh an IFD to be formed by the City and Alameda County
• Worked extensively to draft and negotiate the agreements neces sary to entitle and finance the Project, and guarantee that the A’s would not relocate • Drafted the various development standards, design guidelines a nd other rules to guide development of the Project over time
• Substantially completed a fra mework for public benefits contributions from the Project
• Substantially completed a Public Art Plan, and Parks and Open Space Plan, both as required by the Municipal Code; and
WHEREAS, the Owners of the Athletics had previously stated that their in terest in pursuing acquisition of 50% of the Coliseum property, was to “e nsure that the A’s possess one assured route to a new privately financed stadium in Oakland”, as stated by David Kaval, President of the Oakland Athletics, in his 2018 letter to City of Oakland leadership; and
WHEREAS, subsequent to multiple levels of approvals by the City and oth er agencies, and subsequent to significant success by the City in raising hu ndreds of millions of dollars in transportation/infrastructure funds, the A’s abruptly abandoned negotiations with Oa kland and announced that they had entered into a “binding agreement” to build a ballpark village on 49 acres of land in Las Vegas; and
WHEREAS, the A’s plan for a new ballpark village on 49 acres in Las Vega s was then abandoned by the A’s owners and a much smaller project, for just a ballpark located on only nine acres of leased land was reported to be the next step for the A’s; and
WHEREAS, it has been reported that the proposed ballpark plan for Las V egas is now mired in uncertainty, possibly facing litigation, a signature-g athering drive for a referendum to stop it, lack of ballpark design, lack of cost estimating and funding, and excessive additional costs due to the need to add an expensive roof (which would not be ne eded in Oakland) due to the climate and weather; and
WHEREAS, the proposals that the City and Port have been processing for a large multi- use project on 55 acres at Howard Terminal were entirely based on the requests of the A’s, and the City has multiple potential locations for a Major League Baseba ll ballpark use, which can easily accommodate the new smaller project requested by the A’s owners, either for only a ballpark, or for a ballpark with dining and entertainment, such as with a po rtion of the land in the Coliseum (which the A’s are purchasing in an installment sale from Alame da County and the City and A’s will jointly own) or at Howard Terminal; and
WHEREAS, specifically, the smaller ballpark-focused proposed project no w apparently desired by the A’s could be read ily be accommodated within a po rtion of the Howard Terminal
site; such a focused footprint, adjacent to the Broadway Transi t corridor, by the Jack London
4 Square area with dining and hotels and more, and adjacent to the ferry dock, could easily welcome a more focused ballpark project that could be expedited and successful; and
WHEREAS, to provide clarity to all parties, the City Council affirms to the A’s owners and others, and to Major League Baseball, that a ballpark-focus ed project remains viable in Oakland; and
WHEREAS, the City Council further affirms that, contrary to statements by the Commissioner of Baseball, the City has proposed a viable, detai led, and mutually beneficial proposal for the Project when the A’s walked away from negotiations. Major League Baseball is viable in Oakland, one of the nation’s largest media markets an d most passionate fan bases. The Project is viable and achievable by an ownership group that is committed to this community; and now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That the City Council hereby adopts the facts and findings set forth in the preceding “whereas” clauses and incorporates them into this Resolution; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Council affirms that the A’s belong in Oakland, and it is important to document the substantial and tangible pr ogress and proposals the City and Port put before the A’s ownership in an effort to keep them here; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That a focused ballpark or ballpark/entertainment project would be viable as an independent project in Oakland; and be it
FURTHER RESOLVED: That the City Council asks and encourages the City Administration and the Port to take any further actions as needed to effectuate this effort.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - FIFE, GALLO, JENKINS, K ALB, KAPLAN, RAMACHANDRAN, REID, AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
A T T E S T :
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California
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