The Racetrack Next to the Albany Bulb Is Changing Hands This Winter. What Changes on Your Walk?
October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
On Monday, Oct. 5, a group of public officials stood in the winner's circle at Golden Gate Fields and looked out at the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Tamalpais, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline. "Look at the view. It's just amazing," Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks told The Mercury News during the tour. "People are going to want to be here." The next day, the same paper found people at the Albany Bulb walking above a padlocked track.
That padlock is the part to watch this winter. A $175 million deal is turning the 162-acre racetrack into a regional park. Under the deal, the grandstand and stables are supposed to come down by closing, and the park itself will take years of planning. The first piece of the property that Bulb walkers are likely to use is the racetrack parking lot.
On Wednesday, Oct. 21, the East Bay Regional Park District board voted unanimously to approve the $175 million acquisition, Berkeleyside reported. The Trust for Public Land buys the land first from the Stronach Group, which has owned it since 1999, and then hands it to the park district. About three-quarters of the property is in Albany.
The vote set the remaining steps in motion. Here they are in order:
The price includes removal of every above-ground structure, and the seller does that work. That covers the wooden grandstand and its thousands of seats, the one-mile oval where 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation once raced, the stables and the other buildings.
The Stronach Group applied to Albany for a demolition permit on June 25. When the Mercury News reported in early October, Albany had not issued it, and neither had Berkeley, which also has to sign off. Albany City Manager Nicole Almaguer told the paper the city still needed "more information on the actual timelines for the demolition and the circulation routes for the trucks." She said she hoped to issue the permit by the end of the year.
Weather adds pressure. The same article cited strong El Niño conditions and a higher chance of heavy storms this winter, which could slow the work. If the buildings aren't gone in time, the transfer could be delayed or get more complicated. The Berkeley Scanner reported a backup plan written into the park district's resolution. If demolition isn't finished by closing, the park district and the seller would have to negotiate a separate post-closing operating agreement before the sale closes, and that agreement would need another board vote. So once the permit is issued, demolition trucks could be part of the view from the Bulb this winter.
Berkeleyside describes the site as a one-mile track, a grandstand, stables, dorms, a restaurant and roughly 50 acres of parking lot. The park district's resolution requires that "all above-ground structures and infrastructure, not including pavement" be demolished by closing, the Berkeley Scanner reported. The pavement isn't part of the teardown, and that's where the first public use could show up.
Max Korten, general manager of the East Bay Regional Park District, told the Mercury News he hopes to open parts of the closed racetrack parking lot early next year for people who hike and walk dogs at the Albany Bulb. He called it a hope, not a schedule. Still, it is the only change anyone has publicly tied to the Bulb's regular visitors.
Here is why it matters. Today you reach the Bulb at the foot of Buchanan Street, and the park district notes that parking at the western end of Buchanan is limited. The Albany Scanner reported that at Albany's Sept. 28 community meeting, the park district described phased amenities such as more Albany Beach parking and possibly food trucks. Attendees also suggested paid parking and EV charging. Several of the earliest ideas on the table involve where people leave their cars, before anything about what the park will become.
Most of your walk won't change. The racetrack sale doesn't touch the city-owned Bulb, and the shoreline trail stays open.
| Place | What the sources say this winter |
|---|---|
| Albany Bulb, 1 Buchanan St. | City-owned public recreation area, closed from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. |
| Bay Trail along the racetrack | Stays open through the transfer, according to the park district |
| Racetrack grounds | Secured for safety after acquisition, with access expanding over time |
| Bulb art | Driftwood murals, "Herons," "The Cove" and the "Castle" |
| McLaughlin Eastshore and Albany Beach | No closure on the park district's alerts page as of Oct. 26 |
The City of Albany lists the Bulb's art as murals, stencils, graffiti, sculpture and installations. That makes it a different kind of public space from anything planned next door. If you walk a dog there, the park district's rules for the adjoining state park lands require a leash within 200 feet of trails, entrances and developed areas, and voice control at all times.
The park district describes the racetrack as the missing link in a shoreline park system that runs from Richmond to Oakland. It ties together Albany Beach, McLaughlin Eastshore State Park, Point Isabel Regional Shoreline, the Bulb and Berkeley's waterfront parks. If the parking lot opens to Bulb walkers, that would be the first time part of the gap is used as a park.
What comes after the parking lot will take much longer. The park district's timeline sets aside 2027 through 2029 for public planning, with phased construction after 2029 as money comes in.
Albany residents have already started making suggestions. More than 100 people filled the Albany Community Center for the Sept. 28 meeting, and more than 400 more watched online, the Albany Scanner reported. Ideas included a wedding venue, a swimming clubhouse, mini golf, a conference center, horse stables, a hotel and a spa. Some speakers asked to keep the clubhouse, the grandstand and other historic features. Albany Mayor Peggy McQuaid told the Mercury News she would like a performing arts center, saying Albany "desperately needs" one since the theater closed. Wicks has talked about a public beach along the property's mile of bay frontage, plus youth soccer and baseball fields next to the busy Tom Bates Regional Sports Complex.
The money will narrow that list. Korten said the Prop. 4 funds limit the site to "park uses," which still leaves some flexibility. The $53 million from the Wildlife Conservation Board has to go to restoration. One candidate is Codornices Creek. Korten said the creek "makes a right-hand turn into basically a ditch that runs out to the bay" and called restoring it "an amazing opportunity." The park district says the site is not zoned for housing in Albany or Berkeley.
"If it was just trails, I know what that looks like," Korten told the Mercury News. "But with this, there are a lot of ideas." The park district says public engagement starts after it owns the land, run with the Cities of Albany and Berkeley, and you can sign up for project updates on its page.
Before the big park gets planned, two smaller Albany projects need volunteers on Saturday, Nov. 7. From 10 a.m. to noon, the City and The Watershed Project are hosting a free rain garden planting at the Marin Avenue and Santa Fe Avenue rain garden, outside 1370 Marin Ave. From 1 to 3 p.m., the Albany Hill eucalyptus-reuse workshop meets at the far north end of Taft Street and includes a lumber-milling demonstration. You can get to both and still reach the Bulb before sunset.
Big changes at the edge of town affect how a neighborhood works day to day, from where people park to which streets the trucks use. At Diana Sweet, we follow these shifts closely for Albany residents. If you want to talk about what the new waterfront could mean for your corner of town, Start Your Home Search with us.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
Whether you are a first-time homebuyer or upgrading or downgrading and need to sell, there are always questions and concerns. I want to answer your questions and make sure you know that we can accomplish your needs and desires. Where there is a will there is a way. I look forward to working with you.