Per a September 10 Board of Port Commissioners agenda, Oakland Roots SC and Industrial Realty Group have entered an exploratory exclusive negotiating agreement with the Port over its potential Howard Terminal site for a permanent stadium.
The terms of the agreement are for one year, with an initial payment of $50,000.
Although this still isn’t a formal sale of land, it provides Roots and the Port of Oakland one year to determine the viability of Howard Terminal for a permanent stadium. This means the Port will not entertain other offers during this time.
It’s certainly a positive step for Roots and Soul SC’s stadium plans. The club and the Port of Oakland began closed-session negotiations back in March and have met five times to discuss price and terms of payment, per the board’s online records.
Roots and Industrial Realty Group were selected as finalists to redevelop Howard Terminal back in January. At the time, the Port began hashing out an exclusive negotiating agreement with both parties and recommended pursuing an exploratory agreement with the organizations.
Industrial Realty Group is a Los Angeles-based real estate development and investment firm and proposed a traditional commodity-based maritime use. With the acreage available, the two would split the land.
The potential timeline of a stadium at Howard Terminal remains unclear. Roots are currently near finalizing an agreement to turn its training facility on Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda into an 8,000-seat modular stadium and propose to host matches there for the next 3-5 years.
Roots and Soul first confirmed its interest in Howard Terminal in December 2024, submitting an initial proposal which featured a 15,000-seat temporary modular stadium while the permanent 25,000-seat stadium is being built. Roots and Soul president Lindsay Barenz and Tan discussed their proposal at the time, describing the two-stage process.
“Our proposal is actually a two-stage proposal. Our Phase One proposal would be a modular stadium, very similar to the Malibu site, but a bigger 15,000-capacity stadium, which we think is right size for us right now as a team. But as we grow, the renderings for Phase Two are a 25,000-capacity stadium. That’s the goal,” Tan said.
In 2024, Barenz made clear they would “largely” fund their own way, and some infrastructure at Howard Terminal would be eligible for public funds.
“We plan to principally pay for the stadium through private sources of equity. There are some infrastructural things that may be eligible for public funding at the site, but largely it would be privately,” Barenz said.
We’ll provide more coverage on Roots and Soul at Howard Terminal as the news becomes available.