The sprawling bayfront property that housed the Golden Gate Fields horse racing track for more than 80 years is set to become a massive new public park under an agreement announced Tuesday.
The Trust for Public Land, a San Francisco-based non-profit, has reached a deal to acquire the 161-acre site for $175 million from its owner, the Stronach Group. The plan is to then transfer the land, which straddles the border of Berkeley and Albany, to the East Bay Regional Park District. This will create the newest link in a chain of parks along the eastern shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, stretching from Richmond to Oakland.
The track, which was the last full-time horse racing venue in Northern California, held its final race in 2024, marking the end of an era that began in 1941. The closure sparked years of speculation about the future of the prime waterfront real estate.
A multi-million dollar vision
The Trust for Public Land has until the end of the year to exercise its option to buy the property. The ambitious acquisition will be funded through a combination of public and private sources. Juan Altamirano, the trust’s director of government affairs, confirmed the organization will seek both government funding and private philanthropy to secure the purchase.
Golden Gate Fields offers a truly generational opportunity to reimagine a world-class bayside park for the Bay Area,” Guillermo Rodriguez, the trust’s California state director, said in a statement. “With the East Bay Regional Park District and a wide range of public and community partners, we have the chance to expand shoreline access, restore vital ecosystems, and create a place where hundreds of thousands of residents can connect with the outdoors.
The East Bay Regional Park District has already committed $20 million toward the purchase, money that was allocated for the site in a 2008 bond measure known as Measure WW. Further public funding could come from a 2024 state bond measure aimed at financing projects that address the impacts of climate change.
As part of the agreement, the Canadian-based Stronach Group will be responsible for demolishing the grandstands, stables, and other structures currently on the property, clearing the way for its transformation. The total cost of developing the park and any necessary environmental remediation is not yet known.
Shaped by the community
Once the purchase is complete, the East Bay Regional Park District will initiate an extensive public process to design the new park. Elizabeth Echols, the park district director representing Berkeley and Albany, said the agency is eager for community feedback.
“We are very eager to get input from everyone in the community about what they’re looking for in this area,” Echols said. She highlighted the project’s potential for ecological restoration and bolstering the shoreline against the effects of climate change. A project of this scale could take approximately five years before it opens to the public, according to Altamirano.
The transformation is a significant victory for local officials and environmental advocates who have long pushed for more public access to the waterfront. “Transforming Golden Gate Fields from an underused site of a bygone era into a vibrant public waterfront park is exactly the kind of forward-thinking redevelopment our communities deserve,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, whose district includes Berkeley and Albany.
Decades of development debates
The future of Golden Gate Fields has been a subject of intense debate for decades. As the popularity of horse racing declined, developers saw the vast property as a prime location for major commercial or housing projects. Twenty years ago, Los Angeles shopping mall developer Rick Caruso proposed building a large retail centre on the site. Later, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory considered it for a potential new campus. Similar issues have surfaced in Auckland, where Auckland Council approves Western Springs Bowl for music and rugby.
However, these proposals met with strong community resistance and were ultimately thwarted by strict zoning regulations in both Berkeley and Albany. Albany voters passed a measure in 1990 requiring voter approval for any zoning changes, effectively preventing large-scale development. These zoning rules prohibit new housing and permit only limited commercial uses, preserving the land for other possibilities.
Long-time advocates for open space, like former Albany mayor Robert Cheasty, view the acquisition as the culmination of a decades-long campaign. Cheasty noted the purchase would fill a notable gap in the 8.5-mile-long McLaughlin Eastshore State Park, which runs from the Bay Bridge to Richmond. "This crowning achievement is a major milestone for our shoreline," he said in a statement.
The new, yet-to-be-named park will become a major addition to the region's public lands, offering sweeping bay views and new opportunities for recreation and habitat restoration on a site that has been largely inaccessible to the public for generations.
