Maritime cargo stakeholders come together to oppose Oakland A’s waterfront stadium

A rare alliance in the ocean cargo industry – comprising shippers, terminals operators, dockside labor and port authorities – has taken form recently in response to problems posed by what will soon become the city’s sole remaining major professional sports franchise. 

The most recent example of this was when the Port of Oakland Commissioners approved a plan that gives the Oakland Athletics four years to advance their quest for a proposed baseball stadium at the Port’s Howard Terminal.  The seven-member Board of Port Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt an Exclusive Negotiation Term Sheet.

This document imposes some firm requirements on the baseball team before the port’s governing Board would even consider a final ballpark vote.  Among them:

*A completed environmental impact report on the stadium proposal;

*Land use approvals from various public agencies; and

*Real estate agreements with the port and “others.”

Good luck with that, say industry insiders. 

The term sheet gives the A’s up to four years to meet the requirements. 

The Board’s vote punctuated a year of negotiations between the port and baseball team.  The A’s have stated their intention to build a 35,000-seat stadium at Howard Terminal replacing their current home at the Oakland Coliseum.  The A’s also plan to build housing at Howard Terminal. The ballpark would be built on Oakland Estuary adjacent to the Port’s Jack London Square entertainment district. 

The port emphasized that the Board’s vote does not commit the port to the ballpark project.  It said no binding agreements would be considered before the A’s meet their obligations. 

Before voting, Commissioners adopted an amendment to the term sheet.  It committed the Port to negotiating measures, designs and operational standards to ensure that the project doesn’t impact or interfere with the port’s use or operations outside of the project.  “The Port will consult seaport and maritime stakeholders regarding such measures,” the amendment said.

Howard Terminal is one of six marine terminals in Oakland. It hasn’t been used for container cargo operations since 2013, but remains key to vessel berthing, truck and container parking and depot operations. Furthermore, it’s a training space for longshore workers and other logistics services supporting port operations.

Which brings us to examine the unprecedented support the port is getting from organized labor. Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has gone on the record with its adamant stance against the A’s plan, stating with some hyperbole that the terminal represents “sacred ground.”

Finally, the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, Harbor Trucking Association and Agriculture Transportation Association also oppose legislation relaxing the environmental laws that apply to the construction of a stadium project at Howard Terminal.

But the nail in the coffin for the A’s proposal may come when another coalition of community and environmental groups weigh in with their conditions, say industry observers. 

The A’s claim that its plans for the property would create badly-needed housing near the new proposed ballpark in Oakland is strictly ruse from opponent’s perspective, who note that new apartments and condos would merely be an extension of “gentrification” in what was once a working-class city.