By Khalida Sarwari
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced today the city’s redevelopment agency is struggling financially, which could hamper efforts to build a new stadium for the Oakland Athletics baseball team in the city’s downtown area.
A Major League Baseball committee is in the process of determining whether to change the territorial rights in the county from the San Francisco Giants to the A’s.
Reed said the territorial issue still needs to be resolved.
“There is not an update from the commissioner’s office,” he said. “We’re hoping it comes soon… we’re hoping for a spring election.”
Once that issue is decided, the City Council will place before voters a measure on using public funds for the construction of the stadium.
If voters approve it, the redevelopment agency would negotiate a disposition and development agreement to purchase or lease a site for the stadium.
So far, the redevelopment agency has bought nine of the 11 properties that contain about 60 percent of the site, with two parcels remaining estimated at $20 million.
At a joint City Council and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors meeting today, it was announced that the stadium could create up to 980 full- and part-time jobs and generate up to $1.6 million annually for the general fund and redevelopment agency.
New taxes cannot be imposed to fund stadium-related expenditures, and public funds cannot be used to finance the construction of the stadium, according to a presentation on negotiating principles adopted by Reed and the council members.
The negotiating principles also stipulated that the stadium be made available to the city during the off-season for up to 10 days a year for community events, and that the name of the team must include “San Jose.”
The A’s would be responsible for on-site construction costs as well as off-site traffic control, street cleanup, and emergency and security services generated by baseball games and other stadium events.
Construction on the stadium would begin in 2012 and be completed in April 2015.