Someone’s eager to wrap things up. And his name is Lew.
Tracy Seipel reports that Lew Wolff has emerged as a potential buyer for some property in downtown San Jose that the RDA just put up for sale. This shouldn’t be a surprise, I hinted at this last Friday. Again, this seems like a form of quid pro quo, with Wolff benefiting in the end as AT&T did with their Santana Row land deal. It’s ugly, and it’s not the way things should be done. However, Wolff himself said he was willing to go to great lengths to make this happen. From October:
While he and agency officials both said no details of a possible land purchase by Wolff had been discussed, the team owner pledged: “Whatever issues we run into, we will figure out how to get them done. We will not let anything stand in the way of getting the ballpark done.”
Noted.
In the last week, the deadline to get everything done for a ballpark deal has shrunk from 18 months to 12 to 9 to 6 and now possibly 2-3 months, which is straight crazy. I’m not going to blame the Giants for this, they did what they felt was in their best interest. It’s the continual, inexplicable delay on Bud Selig’s part that has led the A’s to this being what may be their last chance at a ballpark anywhere in the Bay Area or Northern California. As ever, we have no idea what’s going on within The Lodge. With both Wolff and Mayor Chuck Reed regularly in touch with Selig regarding the rapidly changing redevelopment landscape in California, Selig may finally have the proper impetus to… act. Which sadly fits him to a tee.
With the demise of big city redevelopment near, Merc columnist Scott Herhold took the time to assess how San Jose, with the second largest RDA in the state (behind LA), has fared in its redevelopment initiatives. While he considered it a mixed bag, he felt it was better to be large and audacious with the money than for the city to stagnate and eventually crumble. He also linked to a 2006 pictorial presentation (PDF) made by the RDA, which shows how downtown looked in 1975 (the year I was born) and now. They’ve managed to turn a decaying urban center that was more famous for night cruising by local youths down First Street into a place that has stuff to visit, like fantastic library shared with SJSU, a world class arena, several good museums. Yesterday I was strolling through Paseo de San Antonio (between the Fairmont buildings) and I noticed Sharks fans mingling with attendees at the annual Furries convention. Well, maybe they weren’t actually mingling. At least they were in fairly close proximity. Anyway, who’d ever thought that was even possible in 1975?
Below are two pictures of the Plaza de Cesar Chavez area (Park Ave & Market St), first the 1975 photo and then the 2006 photo.
City Hall was once in the park
The ground level part of the curved building is part of what Lew Wolff may purchase, he already owns the upper floors
San Jose may be forever sleepy, but it has still come a long way.
newballpark.org 
AHH! FURRIES!
@ML–1975 was a good year. I was a 7th grader at Lincoln in Alameda. East bay sports rocked with the W’s sweeping the Bullets in 4 in the NBA Finals; the A’s having another great year, but getting swept by the Bosox in the ALCS; and John Madden’s Raiders getting denied by the Steel Curtain in the AFC Championship Game.
Jaws was the #1 movie, where everyone was afraid to go back in the water. All in the Family was the top TV show; and Saturday Night Live premiered. I’ve watched it ever since.
Great music too in 1975. Born to Run by Springsteen and Sister Golden Hair by America were two of my favorites.
Great memories.
RM,
Ballparks, football stadiums, museums, hotels, luxury developments aside, in your honest opinion are we really seeing the end of RDA’s statewide?
When JB first hinted at this a few weeks back I thought it was a joke or scare tactic for municipalities. But now its looking more real by the day.
@tony d. – As far as the big project, developer-driven RDA, it’s over. Redevelopment will be scaled down to fit a different financial model. The agencies will either be swallowed by planning or left as small as possible. The important thing is that the tax increment financing structure is being taken away. Without it, cities can’t do anything big.
@TonyD–it’s good that SJ (and Oak for that matter) built all the stuff they did the last 20+ years, or SJ may still look like those bleak pics from 1975 if the RDA’s get the axe. I barely remember SJ being on the radar back then. There was the Winchester Mystery House and that big Flea Market. No other reason really to go down there. SF always got all the attention, and still does. I have to admit SJ has a lot of a decent restaurants downtown, and read they have a La Pinata and SP Square. I often go to the San Leandro and Alameda La Pinata’s. The best fajitas anywhere.
How things change… All I ever remember of SJ growing up was it being near nowhere and there being absolutely nothing worth going out that way but the Winchester House (that took forever to get to by the way) and even that was covered by a field trip in grade school eventually.
Crazy… Now SJ appears to have eaten Oakland’s lunch. I guess I’m just stuck in the past, but it sure feels weird to think of that area as anything more than what it always was. Bummer for my hometown I suppose.
I believe we are getting close….sticking with my projection of a March announcement….June vote— this is from the Boston Globe about the A’s situation…
“What else can you say about Lew Wolff, owner of the Oakland A’s? He is trying to move the team to San Jose, where he has plans for a 32,000-seat privately-funded stadium to keep the A’s in the Bay area. “I’m fairly optimistic now,’’ Wolff said. “We’re waiting for commissioner [Bud]Selig to give us the approval to move forward, and it’s been a very slow process, but there’s a committee and we have to go through the process.’’
Wolff has watched the A’s flounder at the Coliseum, which has been antiquated for some time. They can’t generate the revenue they need to stay relevant, even though the organization has continually produced top-level talent in the Billy Beane era. Even when Wolff wants to spend money to bring in top free agents, he is hindered by the stadium and the atmosphere. The A’s tried for two years to acquire Adrian Beltre but he has no interest in playing there. “It’s been very difficult to attract players,’’ Wolff said, “and once their wives see it . . .’’
There will be a vote of owners, with two-thirds required to approve a move; that shouldn’t be an issue. The stadium is well past the planning stages, so it just would be a matter of getting it built. Wolff said it would be the smallest venue in baseball by design, in an effort to create a warm, cozy atmosphere — the anti-Coliseum. “Once we get the go-ahead, it’ll be about three years before we’re playing there,’’ Wolff said.”
@GoA’s–“There will be a vote of owners, with two-thirds required to approve a move; that shouldn’t be an issue.” So they have the votes all sewn up? I highly doubt it. LW, like the rest of us, really doesn’t know where this is going. He’s optimistic now? What was he a week ago, or a month ago, or a year and a half ago? What triggered this burst of optimism? His cozy deal with SJ to purchase that last piece of land, which stinks to high heaven? Lew, sell the once proud franchise and get out of the O, stay down south and buy the Dodgers where you can be the big cheese in La La Land.
@jk–I merely reported what is quoted in the Boston Globe–for you to go on a rant without any facts really gets old—
@GoA’s–thank you for posting the article. I’m just responding to the article and expressing my opinion. You guys rant too–big, long, never-ending rants– and I put up with it, so chill.