Oakland A’s unveil plans to build Bjarke Ingels-designed urban ballpark

The Oakland A’s have recently announced plans to build a next-generation urban ballpark at Howard Terminal that “returns the baseball experience to the roots of the sport, while reimagining the ballpark anew.”

The overall design takes on a “ballpark within a park” design as the stadium will be tucked into its surrounding urban setting. The square block of the ballpark district will sit within Oakland’s greater urban fabric. The ballparks concourses will be transformed into streets and its concessions into restaurants.

The new stadium has a planned capacity of about 34,000 people, which includes fixed seats and general admission experience areas. To create the most intimate experience possible, the seats and general admission locations will be arranged in the closest configuration possible to home plate.

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An elevated park will wrap and frame the bowl and connect the stadium to the waterfront, and an elevated tree-lined park will frame the stadium on all sides and dip down to meet the public square and open the field to water and city views. This park will connect a collection of social spaces that will be open on both game days and non-game days. The new stadium and park is being privately financed and slated for completion in 2023.

Additionally, the team will take on a second project to repurpose the current Coliseum site by pulling the adjacent neighborhood fabric into the site and create new economic, cultural, and recreational opportunities. The preliminary plans include a large park that will be surrounded by new housing, which will include affordable housing, a skills center, community gathering space, office and retail developments, and restaurants. The Oracle Arena will be repurposed as a concert and cultural events center and the original Coliseum baseball diamond will be preserved and included as part of the park.

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The A’s will now begin a “120-Day Action Plan” that will focus on gathering additional community feedback; beginning the environmental review process at Howard Terminal; negotiating an agreement with the Port of Oakland; developing a framework with public officials for the Coliseum redevelopment; and developing a framework for an economic and community benefits agreement.