FREMONT — Oakland A's co-owner Lew Wolff wants to meet more frequently with city officials in coming months to forge an agreement to make Fremont the team's new home for as much as 40 years, according to a letter obtained by The Argus, a sister publication of the Oakland Tribune, on Tuesday.

The letter, which Wolff sent to Fremont City Manager Fred Diaz, provides the first detailed glimpse into the ballclub's communication with Fremont officials, revealing some of their plans to surround a new ballpark with a mixed-use development similar to San Jose's Santana Row.

"It's the most substantive thing that we've received about their clear intent to pursue a ballpark with the city," Diaz said.

The letter, which Diaz received Nov. 27, states that the A's want to meet twice monthly with city officials for the next three to six months.

"It is the first official correspondence from them that says, 'We want to negotiate; we want to do this project in Fremont; here's our vision for the project, and here are some ideas we have,'" Diaz said.

The correspondence arrived at City Hall nearly two weeks after the A's and Cisco Systems Inc. announced Cisco's purchase of the ballpark naming rights for $4 million a year over 30 years.

In the letter, Wolff reiterates the team's intent to acquire Cisco's rights to control the 143-acre Fremont property adjacent to Interstate 880 and the Pacific Commons shoppingcenter.

That land parcel is where the A's intend

to build Cisco Field and its surrounding ballpark village.

According to the letter, the village would feature:

-A 32,000- to 35,000-seat ballpark costing up to

$500 million.

-An "entertainment/lifestyle center retail project" within a mixed-use development.

-Housing with "a majority of multifamily units in a pedestrian-friendly village" near the stadium.

In lieu of tapping "the traditional level of public subsidies," the team wants to partly finance the ballpark through entitlements from the city of Fremont. That likely would include rezoning the 143-acre parcel, which contains about 3.4 million square feet of land zoned for research and development office space.

"We seek to have a significant portion of the project funded by ... revenues and resources generated directly from the ballpark village development as opposed to receiving substantial direct subsidies outside of the project area (i.e. taxes)," Wolff said in the letter.

In addition, the A's cited the importance of receiving a strong commitment from Fremont and Alameda County officials before proceeding with their plans, saying the city's level of interest is "critical to our decision to complete the Cisco purchase."

During the summer, Wolff purchased about 8 acres of land adjacent to the Cisco parcel. When it finalizes its land deal with Cisco, the team would control more than 150 acres at the site.

The A's also are eyeing 40 acres west of Pacific Commons, proposing to enter into "a lease or other arrangement" with Fremont for a "transit, traffic and parking program," according to the letter.

What would that program include?

Details are sketchy, but A's and Fremont officials have met recently with brass from Capitol Corridor and Altamont Corridor Express, two Bay Area transit agencies that share Union Pacific Railroad tracks.

Those meetings included preliminary discussions about the potential of building a train station adjacent to the

40-acre parcel.

Meanwhile, team officials propose to develop and operate the ballpark themselves. Wolff also offered to cover any development cost overruns and suggested that the city possibly would own the stadium and the land when the lease expires.

More details are expected soon.

The team said it is developing separate drafts for a project master plan and an economic study for city staff to review.