Oakland City Council has given the go-ahead to build a new waterfront stadium for baseball in California. The stadium will represent the city’s major league baseball team, the “A’s”. The approval was for a non-binding proposal, said Athletics President Dave Kaval. Although the tender specifications include preliminary approval of the project, a final agreement has yet to be drawn up and approved and it is unclear whether negotiations will move forward in the face of opposition. from Kaval. Nikki Fortunato Bas, President of the City Council, said: “The term sheet is a roadmap for future negotiations and sets the city parameters for an agreement.”
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According to the terms, the team would fund the construction of the Oakland city baseball stadium and the surrounding development. Oakland would create a tax finance district to pay for the infrastructure on the site. Off-site infrastructure would likely be covered by a combination of state and federal funding, city officials said. The US$ 352 million financing plan to finance the external infrastructure was one of the major sticking points of the council meeting. The city’s term sheet also includes a quarter-century non-relocation agreement and a requirement that new homes under development include a 35 ° target. Fordable housing.
“We believe that A’s can and should accept the conditions. This is the way to keep A’s rooted in Oakland, to protect our port and our taxpayers, and to achieve the benefits our community demands and deserves. ”Fortunato Bas, Deputy Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, and Mayor Libby Schaaf said in a joint Declaration that the team has been trying for years to secure a new ballpark to replace the aging RingCentral Coliseum and have played in the stadium, which was originally built for both baseball teams and the NFL Raiders, since the 1960s. It is the last multipurpose facility from this period still in use and the fifth oldest major league ballpark.
