Mar
13
2009
Reported on InsideBayArea.com
Full Article: http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-living/ci_11890730
The owner of Golden Gate Fields filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday, and intends to sell multiple assets, including the horse racing track in the East Bay.
“It’s really business as usual for us,” said Robert Hartman, general manager of Golden Gate Fields. “We are open for business. There are going to be no changes. We plan for horse racing to be at Golden Gate Fields for a very long time.”
Some Albany city officials seek major changes at the track complex. The big parking lot next to the track has caught their eye in particular.
“The race track is not the best use of the property as a whole,” Albany City Councilman Robert Lieber said. “I hope the new owners of the racetrack will work with the city for something that benefits everyone.”
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Dec
19
2008
Is the future of Albany’s Waterfront in question again.
News of The Golden Gate Fields being for sale “has stoked a decades-long local debate over the fate of the prime piece of real estate along the Albany waterfront.
It’s unclear whether the Albany track would be among those put on the block, and if so, be sold as a racetrack business or simply as real estate.
Golden Gate Fields, bought by Magna in 1999, sits on 80 acres along the bay.
In 2002, Magna proposed developing part of the land for retail, entertainment and lodging, but by 2006 abandoned the idea after facing community opposition to a mall on the site.
“They discovered that’s a very difficult thing to do in Albany,” said Albany City Councilman Farid Javandel.”
Read the full article Weighing Odds on Golden Gate Fields
Where does Marge Atkinson the newly elected mayor of Albany stand on the waterfront controversy?
Other Articles:
Owner may sell Golden Gate Fields – Inside BayArea.com
Quarrel on Albany’s Waterfront subsides – AlbanyToday.com
Dec
10
2008
A developer is proposing to amend Richmond’s General Plan Land Use Map from Light Industrial (low-intensity uses) to a Regional Commercial District (high-intensity retail uses), demolish all buildings at 2700 Rydin Rd. and 4903 Central Ave., and construct a 99,000-square-foot Kohl’s department store with almost 400 parking spaces near Costco on Pt. Isabel.
The plan also includes reservation of a 76,000-square-foot pad for chain restaurant, bank, and/or retail uses directly on the corner of Central Avenue and Rydin Road.
Proposed Regional Commercial land use activities and circulation would be in close proximity to sensitive habitat areas–less than 200 feet from Hoffman Marsh to the east and less than 400 feet from the Albany/Richmond mudflats and wetlands (wildlife sanctuary) to the south.
The resulting activities and circulation (including late-night commercial hours) could negatively affect the long-established Hoffman Marsh and the Albany mudflats, which have one of the highest densities of shorebirds in Eastshore State Park.
Help protect the dog park and shoreline! Attend the Richmond City Council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. to protest the proposed rezoning and new Kohl’s store.
