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Schaaf was joined at a press conference on Wednesday by City Council Chairman Nikki Fortunato Bas and community leaders a day after Oakland City Council approved a proposed list of conditions for the baseball stadium. and the development of Howard Terminal over team objections.
Schaaf said he heard an “opening” from the team to negotiation and the city is eager to get back to the negotiating table. She said she thinks the A’s are serious about staying in Oakland because the team has made a “huge investment” of time, money and talent in the city.
“We think the A’s are serious, we think they want to stay rooted in Oakland,” Schaaf said. “A lot of other things could be boastful negotiations.”
“I have worked with Dave Kaval (President of A) for a very long time and have immense respect for him as a wise negotiator,” she added.
Kaval said on Wednesday that the team “remains disappointed” that their April condition list was not passed, but “in the same way, we were encouraged that there was a positive vote and we have were encouraged that there has been some movement from the city “.
“We’re still studying what that means,” he said by phone from Las Vegas. “We want to think about the answer because we were a little surprised. “
Kaval said he would spend Wednesday and Thursday in Las Vegas to research around 20 potential locations, including one on the Strip and some near Henderson and Summerlin. The team also meets with resort operators.
Kaval also said the team hopes to get a vote on the final conditions list by the end of the baseball season in October. The city said it hopes to have the approvals and documents ready for a final vote by the end of the year.
“Development on the California waterfront is a very complicated process,” Schaaf said. “Several regulatory bodies have yet to approve certain aspects of this project. We need to put in place our funding for offsite infrastructure, because that level of detail needs to be in the development that goes to city council. “
Kaval did not want to reveal whether the team planned to continue negotiating or withdraw from the project.
The A project includes a 35,000-seat waterfront ball park privately funded at Howard Terminal, 3,000 residential units, up to 1.5 million square feet of retail space, up to to 270,000 square feet for retail, a 3,500-seat indoor performance center, 400 hotel rooms and up to 18 acres of open space accessible to the public.
The disagreement between the city and the A’s had focused on who would pay around $ 352 million for off-site infrastructure and transportation improvements and how much affordable housing would be included in the project.
On Tuesday, the city said the A’s would not have to cover that cost. Instead, the city would seek state and federal funds to cover offsite infrastructure funds. These terms were approved by vote of the board.
“We provided the main things they asked for, which they said had to continue this process,” Schaaf said.
Schaaf said on Wednesday that a federal infrastructure bill being discussed by Congress would help pay off-site costs. The A’s have yet to say whether this deal will meet their demands for upgrading off-site infrastructure.
Kaval said it was an “important” move by the city and the team acknowledges that “some concessions have been made.” He said the A’s are currently discussing next steps with Major League Baseball.
In addition, the city requires A’s to build 450 affordable residential units on site, some for very low-income households, or 15% of the total 3,000 units. The city also wants A’s to use the funds set aside by the tax district at the Howard Terminal project site to build, preserve or renovate about 500 affordable housing units off-site.
City leaders said on Wednesday the region faces a housing crisis and affordable housing must be part of the plan. The city estimates that 450 affordable units will cost around $ 100 million to build.
Schaaf said on Wednesday that the city had “reason to believe the A’s were okay with this particular proposal.” The As told The Chronicle last week that they would follow state laws on building affordable housing.
But the main sticking point now was about the community aid fund and what it could be spent on, Schaaf said. She said the city would like more flexibility on these funds. The A’s also asked to waive their transport impact fees, another issue to be settled in the negotiations.
The city has proposed to create a 66-year community fund made up of city, county, port and A’s money. The fund has several components: $ 10 million over 15 years of port funds set aside in a social justice trust fund for workforce development and $ 50 million over 20 years in city and county funds set aside by district housing infrastructure finance affordable. The city is also offering about $ 340 million over 66 years from 0.75% condominium transfer fees and $ 11 million over 10 years from transportation impact fees.
Some of the transportation impact fees would be paid when the A’s building and building permits pulled – meaning the city would receive community benefit funds at the start of development rather than over several years, city leaders said.
“We want to make sure that we have as much money as possible for infrastructure and community benefits throughout the life of the project, but especially early on,” Bas said. “We want to make sure that travel protections, for example, can come into play much sooner. “
Bas said surrounding communities of West Oakland and Chinatown have a “real fear” that residents and businesses may be relocated.
The A’s had originally proposed a $ 450 million community benefit package funded by two proposed infrastructure funding districts. This money would have arrived in the city in 45 years. The city said a second infrastructure finance district is not fiscally responsible and instead only one at the project site. If the city had moved forward with A’s proposal on community benefits, the city would have decided how to spend that money – whether it was funding affordable housing or other community benefits.
Kaval said on Tuesday he was disappointed the council did not vote on the list of conditions the team released in April and that team officials were considering the council’s amendments and whether the project could go ahead. forward with the changes. Kaval said the A’s would like final terms to be voted on by the end of October. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he too was disappointed with Tuesday’s vote.
Bas said Tuesday’s non-binding conditions sheet, which is not a final deal, lays the groundwork for continuing to be at the table.
Schaaf said the city was ready to return to the negotiating table.
“We’re absolutely ready the second the As’s are,” she said.
Sarah Ravani is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SarRavani
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