Oakland Roots has released plans for a potential new soccer stadium to rise on Howard Terminal along the Oakland Estuary. The team has conceived of a multi-phase development which would culminate with a permanent arena for the Roots and the Soul Sports Club on the waterfront site. HOK is responsible for the design.
Oakland Roots and Soul SC Howard Terminal stadium fan entrance, rendering by HOK
The Club announced that their Howard Terminal proposal was submitted to the Port Authority last month. Their plan for the site is split into two phases, with phase one involving the construction of a modular stadium facility with a capacity for 15,000 attendees. The modular phase is similar to a proposal shared last May for the Malibu lot near the Oakland Coliseum and could be finished in a relatively short timeline.
Phase two for Howard Terminal would include the construction of the 25,000-fan stadium designed by HOK. Illustrations show the rectangular structure with a dynamic exterior shell and a steel-truss partial roof.
The Roots and Soul are scheduled to play this current season in the Oakland Coliseum. Club President Lindsay Barenz said in the press release, “we believe that our success at the Oakland Coliseum in 2025 will showcase why this Club deserves a world-class stadium to call home, one that proudly represents our City to the world.”
Oakland Roots and Soul SC Howard Terminal stadium harbor view, rendering by HOK
The club press release goes on to articulate that “given the importance of a permanent game day venue to the Club’s success, we are also actively pursuing other paths alongside Howard Terminal to explore all permanent, long-term options, including the Coliseum site with AASEG and other potential locations around the City.”
The club’s Chief Real Estate Officer, Lydia Tan, adds that “while we are keeping all options on the table for other locations in Oakland, Howard Terminal stands out as a unique and exciting opportunity that aligns with our long-term aspirations for the Club.”
The Oakland Roots were formed in 2018 and are currently playing in the second division of the United Soccer League Championship. In 2022, the club launched the Oakland Soul to play in the USL Women’s League. Soul now plans to join the USL Super League this year. Both teams will play home games in the Oakland Coliseum this year, with the Roots games starting in March. The 2025 season scheduled for Soul has yet to be released.
Howard Terminal site outlined approximately by YIMBY, image via Google Satellite
The announcement from the Roots comes less than two years after the Athletics baseball team pulled their much-hyped plans for a mixed-use entertainment and housing project on the waterfront site. While plans for the site beyond the stadium had never been fixed, the team was promising to construct a 35,000-seat stadium, around 3,000 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of office space, a quarter million square feet of retail, and a 3,500-seat performance theater.
The Athletics played their last game in the Oakland Coliseum in late September last year, winning 3 to 2 against the Texas Rangers. The team is expected to play in Sacramento before moving to a permanent location in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Very cool location and concept, but how many years will they play there before moving to Vegas?
Hopefully this plan can accommodate some of the housing and mixed use development proposed by the A’s plan. Even if in a future phase. It would be a shame to not fully activate the finest urban waterfront in California.
100%
Awesome.
Great article. Very exciting development for the Roots and Soul. One small mistake, in the last paragraph of the article, it states the A’s lost its last game, at the Coliseum, to the Mariners, actually the A’s won their last game at the Coliseum, against the Texas Rangers, the A’s lost their last game of the season in Seattle.
Oops, thank you so much for that correction!
This stadium won’t get built. The Roots play in a league that is the equivalent of AAA baseball and have no chance of ever being in MLS. Having much lower operational revenue and no media rights money like an MLS franchise means the team isn’t going to pay to build a brand new stadium (that in almost 40% larger than the Earthquakes’ stadium in San Jose) on a very complex site.
I could see them eventually building a smaller, simpler, cheaper stadium somewhere else in Oakland, but this one is pure vaportecture.
What would the point of pursuing, let alone pitching something like this, if the money people haven’t already chatted about feasibility? I’d have to imagine the site yields greater financial potential (thinking music, conferences, etc) than serving as a smallish teams practice/play space.
There is nothing wrong with the Oakland coliseum that a good architect like SOM original architect of the coliseum or HOK can’t solve. The bleachers got to go!