Report: Golden Gate Fields to become East Bay waterfront park

The former Golden Gate Fields property has been sold to an environmental nonprofit with plans to convert the 161-acre site into public parkland, the Mercury News reported Tuesday.

The Trust for Public Land, based in San Francisco, secured an option to purchase the property from the Stronach Group for $175 million. The deal is expected to close early next year, after which the trust said it will transfer the land to the East Bay Regional Park District.

Golden Gate Fields, which straddled the Albany-Berkeley border along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, closed in June 2024 after an 83-year run. It was the last major Thoroughbred racetrack in the Bay Area following the closure of Bay Meadows in San Mateo in 2008. The Stronach Group announced plans to shutter the facility in July 2023, citing a need to consolidate California racing operations around Santa Anita.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Stronach Group will demolish all structures on the property, including stables built for 1,420 horses and a grandstand that seated approximately 8,000 spectators. The scope of any environmental remediation required remained unclear as of Tuesday.

The property includes roughly one mile of bayfront shoreline and sits adjacent to the Albany Bulb, Tom Bates Regional Sports Complex and McLaughlin Eastshore State Park. Combined, the connected public shoreline would stretch approximately 8.5 miles.

Guillermo Rodriguez, California state director for the Trust for Public Land, told the Mercury News the acquisition represented a rare chance to restore a major stretch of urban waterfront. Among the possibilities discussed for the site are an extension of Albany Beach, trail construction, wetland and meadow restoration and new sports fields near the existing Tom Bates complex.

The East Bay Regional Park District said it planned to hold public meetings next year to gather community input. Full public access to the property could take roughly five years.

Robert Cheasty, executive director of Citizens for East Shore Parks and a former Albany mayor, called the deal a milestone that local conservation advocates had pursued for decades.