Six months ago, in a historic land conservation deal, a San Francisco environmental group signed an agreement to purchase Golden Gate Fields — the site of a famous horse racing track from 1941 to 2024 — and preserve it as a landmark new waterfront park.
The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization, secured an option to pay $175 million to buy the 161-acre property west of Interstate 80 in Albany and Berkeley from the Stronach Group, a Canadian company that has owned it since 1999. The plan received a major boost this summer when Gov. Gavin Newsom included $125 million in his final state budget to help pay for it.
But now comes the hard part: Tearing down the buildings and coming up with a plan for the property’s future.
There are countless opinions, visions and dreams that members of the public, state officials, city leaders, and managers at the East Bay Regional Park District, which will own the site, are already starting to voice. They’ll have to find compromises in the coming months and years in what many leaders are calling a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape the East Bay’s waterfront.
“Look at the view. It’s just amazing,” said Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, during a tour of the property Monday. “People are going to want to be here.”
From the aging, shuttered track, a stunning panorama was visible across San Francisco Bay: the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Tamalpais, Alcatraz Island, the Bay Bridge and San Francisco’s iconic skyline.
Wicks said she hopes that the property’s one mile of bayfront property will become a new public beach, and that much of the land can be restored as a public park. She’d also like to see parts set aside for youth soccer and baseball fields, adding to those at Tom Bates Regional Sports Complex on the property’s southern edge, which are always in demand.
“It’s going to go through an extensive public process,” she said. “We’ll see what comes out the other end. But this is a gold mine of an opportunity. It’s a long journey and we are just starting.”
A number of significant challenges are already beginning to surface.
On Dec. 15, the Trust for Public Land plans to exercise its option, putting down $1.75 million and starting a 30-day escrow period, said Guillermo Rodriguez, the group’s state director. By Jan. 14, the trust expects to close escrow, take title to the land and transfer it that day to the East Bay parks district.
A group of public officials and their staff members stand in front of the winner’s circle during a site tour of the Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. The historic horse racing track closed in 2024 after 83 years of racing and will be converted into a new bayfront public park. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
But under the terms of the deal, the landowner must remove all of the facilities — the massive wooden grandstand and its thousands of seats, the one-mile oval track where famous thoroughbreds like 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation raced, stables that once housed hundreds of horses and other buildings.
The Stronach Group applied for a demolition permit from the city of Albany, where most of the property is located, on June 25. The city still hasn’t issued the permit. Nor has the city of Berkeley, which also must issue a demolition permit.
“We’re working on it as quickly as we can,” said Nicole Almaguer, Albany’s city manager. “It will involve the applicant providing some additional information. Honestly, I don’t have a date. It’s under review.”
Almaguer said she hopes the city can issue the permit by the end of this year.
“They need to give us more information on the actual timelines for the demolition and the circulation routes for the trucks,” she said. “And there have been some questions raised about how the environment is protected throughout that, which is clearly the responsibility of the applicant.”
With strong El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean, the chances of many drenching storms in the Bay Area this winter have increased. If the buildings aren’t removed in three months, that could potentially delay or complicate the transfer.
To complete the $175 million purchase, East Bay parks is putting up $20 million, approved by voters in Alameda and Contra Costa counties in Measure WW, a 2008 parks bond measure. The Trust for Public Land is raising the remaining $30 million from private and public sources.
After that comes a planning process that could take at least a year, officials say.
California State Senate member Jesse Arreguín records a video during a site tour of the Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. The historic horse racing track closed in 2024 after 83 years of racing and will be converted into a new bayfront public park. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
At the first meeting, held in Albany last week, to discuss ideas, more than 400 people attended in person and online. Officials noted the city will lose roughly $2.2 million in annual tax revenue when the track changes from private to public ownership. They want some commercial elements to be included in the final design, like restaurants or other businesses.
Albany Mayor Peggy McQuaid said her dream is a new performing arts center.
“It’s something that Albany desperately needs,” she said. “The theater recently closed.”
State Sen. Jesse Arreguín, D-Oakland, said that because the state’s $125 million share is coming from Proposition 4, a climate adaptation bond approved by California voters in 2024, that will limit some of the uses to park, wildlife and sea level rise projects.
He said, however, that some housing construction might be possible on the site. Like Wicks, he said he would like to see new sports fields for kids in the East Bay, where there is a shortage of parks in some neighborhoods. He compared the Golden Gate Fields project to Crissy Field, the scenic waterfront park that San Francisco officials built 25 years ago from an abandoned military airfield.
“It’s really exciting to think about what could be here,” Arreguín said. “This isn’t just an East Bay issue. This is a California issue. We have the opportunity to create the next Crissy Field here on the shore of the East Bay. It’s an issue of statewide significance.”
A group of public officials and their staff members walk to the front entrance of the Golden Gate Fields during a site tour in Albany, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. The historic horse racing track closed in 2024 after 83 years of racing and will be converted into a new bayfront public park. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Max Korten, the general manager of East Bay Regional Park District, said he hopes early next year to open parts of the now-closed parking lot at the race track for people who hike and walk dogs at the Albany Bulb, a former landfill that is now a popular city park.
Korten said the parks district and Trust for Public Land are working to raise several million dollars to fund a comprehensive planning process next year with public meetings and other events. Finalizing the plan could take a while, he said, although parts of the project could be built in stages.
“If it was just trails, I know what that looks like,” Korten said. “But with this, there are a lot of ideas. As we get further into the planning process, we’ll know more.”
People out walking Tuesday at the Albany Bulb overlooking the padlocked track had a range of thoughts.
Julie Rainwater, a Martinez resident walking her dog, said that since the pristine, open shoreline surrounding Golden Gate Fields is unique, any development should be in service of continued public access.
“It’s just a short little day trip. We can come, bring our dogs and picnic and hang out for the day,” Rainwater said. “I would love to see it just be more of an area for the community. Maybe a roller skating rink.”
Walnut Creek resident Russell Silverstein said Golden Gate Fields was a part of his childhood summers when he visited from San Francisco. He said he hopes the 160 acres will be dedicated to park space and recreation for children.
“It’s a very nice, beautiful walk. And for biking as well,” Silverstein said. “And I think we have to protect that because we’re not doing that anymore in the country.”
Rodriguez, of the Trust for Public Land, said he remembers coming to the track as a student at UC Berkeley in the 1990s when it offered $1 Pabst Beer and $1 hot dogs. Among those interested in its future, he said, are UC officials who see recreational opportunities.
“People are excited,” he said. “The opportunity to create a world-class bayfront park is in our grasp.”
Spiderwebs adorn a large glass window that looks out onto the race track during a site tour of the Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. The historic horse racing track closed in 2024 after 83 years of racing and will be converted into a new bayfront public park. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)