The Port of Oakland Board and Oakland Athletics are set to sign an exclusive four-year term sheet to lease the Howard Terminal waterfront property to the team and construction of a new waterfront ballpark.
An item on the term sheet is scheduled to come before the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners on May 13.
The A’s will pay the Port $100,000 for the right to continue negotiations over the purchase of the 50-acre property located west of Jack London Square. The team plans to build a 35,000-seat ballpark on the site that also includes 3,000 housing units and retail.
In April 2018, the A’s and Port officials signed a $100,000, one-year Exclusive Negotiating Agreement for Howard Terminal.
Under terms of the agreement, the A’s would pay an additional $150,000 to the Port if a deal is not consummated after one year; $200,000 after two years; and $250,000 after three years.
The framework for the term sheet sets the annual rent price for the property at $3.8 million for the first 20 years.
The proposed term sheet reserves the Port’s authority to approve any final project for Howard Terminal until the A’s have fully navigated the long list of land-use hurdles associated with building on the bay. It also requires the A’s to offer a comprehensive traffic plan to the Port as part of the permitting process.
The Port vote follows a flurry of ballpark-related legislative activity. Earlier this month a pair of regulatory bills authored by East Bay Assemblymember Rob Bonta and state Sen. Nancy Skinner began moving through the Legislature.
Two weeks ago, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors agreed to a term sheet to sell their half of the Oakland Coliseum complex to the A’s for $85 million. The moves were made against a backdrop of protest from some labor unions who object to the construction of a ballpark at the working port.
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