Oakland city officials "released planning studies Friday for the grand development scheme they envision around the outmoded and isolated" O.co Coliseum, according to Michael Cabanatuan of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The draft environmental impact report and specific plan for Coliseum City "call for construction of a new neighborhood that would feature three sports venues, 5,750 housing units and 8 million square feet of retail development." In addition to a new ballpark for the A's and a new football stadium for the Raiders, the plan "includes an arena" for the Warriors, who have "announced their plans to abandon the Oracle Arena and move to a new facility they want to build" in S.F.'s Mission Bay. The new Oakland arena "would also serve as an events center." A transit hub "would be built next to the Coliseum BART Station, and an elevated pedestrian concourse would run from the transportation center to the sports and entertainment facilities, shops, restaurants and hotels and residential areas." But the Raiders "have been noncommittal on the development plan," and the A's "have expressed interest in a stadium on the Coliseum site but don't want to be part of Coliseum City" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/23).
CALIFORNIA DREAMING? In L.A., Bill Shaikin wrote the ballpark situations in both Oakland and Anaheim "might well go unresolved" before MLB Commissioner Bud Selig leaves office in January. The A's could use the time before Selig's departure "to prepare shiny feasibility studies for Oakland and San Jose, then ask the owners to decide whether all 30 teams would make so much more money with the A's in San Jose that the Giants' territorial rights should be overturned" (L.A. TIMES, 8/24).
