Great Interview Neil deMause-Field of Schemes

Elephants in Oakland interviewed Field of Schemes co-author/webmaster Niel deMause. Click here for interview.

In the interview, deMause comments on the idea that the Cisco-Fremont-A's stadium plans are more like a real-estate deal:

Right, that's the other conspiracy theory: that Wolff doesn't care about the stadium or the team, and just wants to use the stadium to get leverage to force Fremont to rezone his land so he can build condos. Stranger things have happened, certainly. There's a lot of speculation that something similar may happen in Brooklyn, with the planned Nets arena, where the residential development is the real cash cow for the developer.

DeMause actually feels there's a less than 50% chance that this stadium will be built in Fremont, that "There are a million things that can trip up even the best-laid stadium plans, and this one seems dodgier than most."

I agree that this Fremont stadium is not finalized and still could go horribly wrong, but Wolff has been able to get what he has wanted up to this point, for example tarping the third deck and buying land in Fremont. As for the idea that this is a real estate deal with a ballpark as a front, this is spot on. Wolff is getting a great opportunity to develop 143 acres of land in a middle class city close to San Jose. Real estate developers would kill for that opportunity to build condos right next to I880. Great interview.