San Francisco Puts Warriors Arena On Fast Track
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – The lengthy review and approval process to let the Golden State Warriors build a new arena on San Francisco's waterfront has been put on the fast track, officials said Friday.
The first hearings on transforming the crumbling and dilapidated docks at Piers 30-32 into a shiny new venue for the NBA team could be just weeks away, said Jennifer Matz, director of San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
"We expect to have a term sheet before the Board of Supervisors and the Port Commission by Labor Day," she said, with the environmental impact review beginning in just a couple of weeks.
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
"It'll build off the recently completed America's Cup environmental impact report," Matz said, adding it could take as long as 18 months to study all the possible effects the arena might have on traffic and the San Francisco Bay.
She predicted design, review and approval of the arena would be done in two years, and estimated construction would take another three years.
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said a call from the Warriors the night before the San Francisco deal was announced did nothing to dissuade her from plans to build a new sports complex on the Coliseum site.
The Warriors hope to open the San Francisco arena in the fall of 2017, but Quan maintains higher construction costs will ultimately sink her rival's waterfront deal.
"It doesn't require $100 million to build into the Bay, if they get permission to do that. And it also doesn't include the $95 million the Warriors will have to pay if they leave before 2027," she said.
Quan believes Oakland is in a position financially to complete the Coliseum City project much sooner than the time frame for the San Francisco waterfront proposal.
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