Groups in talks to purchase Raiders’ old training facility
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is negotiating with two groups, including the owner of the Oakland Roots and Soul soccer teams, to sell its share of the former Raiders training facility in Alameda.
The 17-acre site served as the headquarters and practice facility for the former Oakland football team and includes two buildings with offices, conference and media rooms, and fitness spaces. It has been without a permanent tenant for years, but the Oakland Roots and Soul have been leasing the site since 2021 for training.
On Tuesday’s closed-session agenda, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors planned to discuss with county counsel possible prices and payment terms to sell the site to the Oakland Roots and Soul Sports Club or to a company called Steam Factory Oakland, LLC. It’s unclear whether there will be other offers.
“As I understand it, the real estate team and facilities team are going through the process of getting the highest and best offer from everybody,” said county Supervisor David Haubert. “They’re following whatever typical real estate transaction laws there are to do that. That includes financing or not, all cash or not, quick close or not.”
Haubert declined to share details of who is proposing to buy the property and for how much.
The city of Oakland is a joint owner of the site on Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda and is counting on the sale of the facility to help bridge its budget deficit of nearly $360 million. The minimum bid price for the site at an auction in June was $35.8 million, according to the city’s website. Oakland would get half of whatever the property is sold for.
Sean Maher, a spokesman for the city of Oakland, said the negotiations are privileged, but that the city is working closely with the county on a sale.
The 118,847-square-foot facility is equipped with locker rooms, media production rooms, private offices and two whirlpools with steam rooms. The training center has an indoor fitness space, an exterior pool and grass fields.
The county’s move comes nearly three months after the East Bay Times reported that no bidders came forward at a summer auction for the property.
The two competing bids on the county board’s closed session agenda don’t specify how much either the Roots and Soul or Steam Factory Oakland LLC have offered to pay.
The Oakland Roots and Soul Sports Club declined to comment.
Information about Steam Factory Oakland LLC was largely unavailable. A company by that name based in Las Vegas filed for a business license in June 2023 with the California secretary of state, and public records list Anthony Hylick as the CEO. Hylick and other officials could not be reached for comment.
The Oakland Roots and Soul are also currently in negotiations with Oakland and Alameda County for a 10-year lease on an 8.8-acre site known as the Malibu Property that adjoins the Oakland Coliseum and is now used for overflow parking during events. The teams hope to erect a temporary stadium there that would seat around 10,000 fans.
The city of Oakland is a joint owner of the site on Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda and is counting on the sale of the facility to help bridge its budget deficit of nearly $360 million.