At a press conference this morning, The Golden State Warriors and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced plans to move the team back to San Francisco after a four-decade-plus absence (they played there from 1962 to 1971). (Watch the livestream of the conference here.) According to the Chron, the Warriors will move into a $500 million, privately-financed, 17,000- to 19,000-seat arena built on Piers 30-32 near the foot of the Bay Bridge. The pier is owned by the Port of San Francisco, and under the deal, the port would give the Warriors a long-term lease in exchange for the team building the arena and fixing the now-crumbling pier.
Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have been working to return the team to SF since buying it for $450 million in 2010. The move won’t happen until 2017 at the earliest, when it can get out of its lease at the Oracle Arena, reports the AP. When completed, the arena will also host conventions and concerts, and include 100,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space.
