Tesla interested in buying Oakland Coliseum land

Oakland parking lots are shaking after catching wind that Tesla Motor Company wants to buy the 130-acre parcel of land currently home of the Oakland Coliseum. Company founder Elon Musk, hot off a stab at April Fools’ hilarity, sent a letter of interest to the city, according to Matier and Ross.

“Exactly what the company would build there is a closely guarded secret.”

Tesla currently has a property in Fremont, a mere 24 miles away from Oakland Coliseum.

A possible wrinkle in Musk’s plan to build whatever it is he has in mind—Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who has asked the city and Alameda County to “negotiate exclusively with the A’s on a possible new ballpark at the Coliseum.”

Soccer team owner and local real estate investor Mark Hall also has his eyes on the spot. His plan would include, among other things, foosball.

Image via Google

[Hall’s] pitching a plan for a 44-acre mega-sports and recreation center on the Coliseum site that would include a stadium for his team and sports fields. He would use Oracle Arena, which the Warriors are about to vacate, for concerts, pro lacrosse games and foosball competitions. (Yes, foosball, the arcade game when little players on hand-manipulated metal rods kick a ball up and down the table.)

The rest of the property would go to the A’s for their new ballpark.

The soccer guru reportedly offered $85 million for part of the land. And if the A’s move (the team has their eyes on Howard Terminal near Jack London Square), Hall would “match the team’s offer to pay off the city and county’s $136 million in debt on the stadium and Oracle Arena in exchange for the property.”

The current ballpark, a weathered concrete behemoth, is bemoaned as one of the worst in the league. The city would like to demolish the old one and create something new, provided the team wants to stay put.

Next up, the City Council and county Board of Supervisors look at the plans to make a decision.

• Tesla, soccer team owner interested in Oakland Coliseum land [SF Chronicle]
• Elon Musk, soccer guru want to bargain with Oakland for the Coliseum [SF Business Times]
• Tesla is reportedly interested in a huge parcel of land in Oakland [Electrek]
• 6 things to know about the Oakland Athletics’ proposed stadium site [Curbed SF]