A’s offer to buy Coliseum site for $135 million
Team president: Proposal would cover city, county debt on complex
OAKLAND >> The Oakland A’s have occupied the Coliseum for 50 years this season, and now they want to buy their East Oakland home.
Team President Dave Kaval on Monday proposed purchasing the 120-acre site — all of it, including Oracle Arena — in a deal he said would secure the land even as the A’s continue to pursue Howard Terminal.
“We are trying to make sure we retain as many options as possible so we can remain ‘rooted in Oakland,’ ” Kaval said Monday. “The focus now is that we own our own home and we control our own destiny.”
“This is going to once and for all put the public financing debt of all the complexes behind the city and county,” Kaval said. “It’s an amazing gesture.”
In a letter sent to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Sunday, the A’s proposed to pay $135 million and asked to enter into an “exclusive negotiating agreement” with the county and city, who own the property. Before the proposal was made public, county officials have discussed whether to sell its share to the city.
Oakland is facing the real possibility of having no sports teams at the Coliseum.
Currently the Coliseum site is home to three professional teams — the A’s, Raiders and Warriors. But the latter two franchises are short-term tenants in the process of building new facilities. The Warriors plan to open the Chase Center in San Francisco for the 2019-20 NBA season, while the Raiders intend to relocate to a $1.8 billion domed stadium in Las Vegas in 2020 or 2021.
The site has also not been the A’s first choice. In December, the Peralta Community College board of trustees decided to end talks with the team over a proposed stadium near Laney College. The team’s intention to build a downtown ballpark on a 13-acre site abutting Laney College and near Lake Merritt faced immediate pushback from residents and activists that a Laney College instructor characterized as “landslide opposition.”
Several Oakland leaders have said the Coliseum is the most logical location because environmental review for a new stadium has already been completed and for its proximity to BART, Interstate 880 and the Oakland International Airport. However, city leaders have scoffed at previous attempts by developers to purchase the property from the city and county.
Mayor Schaaf supported a waterfront site at Howard Terminal that Kaval believed was too cold and presented too many transit hurdles. On Monday, Kaval said the team is still pursuing Howard Terminal but the transportation and environmental problems there remain.
“I’m excited to work with the A’s in their commitment to stay in Oakland and build a privately financed ballpark,” Schaaf said in a statement issued Monday morning. “We look forward to reviewing, analyzing, and considering the offer.”
It remains unclear if the city would still have to pay for infrastructure costs. In 2016-17, the failed attempt to develop a new stadium for the Raiders at the Coliseum included having the city pay about $200 million in improvements. Kaval declined to discuss infrastructure costs, saying it is too early in the process, but the team is committed to privately financing the ballpark.
He said the team arrived at the $135 million figure because it covers the current debt at Oracle Arena and the Coliseum, from taxpayer bonds used to renovate the facilities, including adding Mt. Davis, to lure the Raiders back in the 1990s.
Debt at Oracle stands at about $55 million while Coliseum debt remains at about $80 million. However, by the time the Warriors depart for San Francisco, the total debt at both facilities will be around $105 million to $110 million, according to sources. The $135 million figure is also below a 2016 appraisal of the property, which valued the land at about $150 million.
Former sports executive Andy Dolich said that “Now the real wheeling and dealing starts to take place because of the hundreds of millions of dollars that are at stake to the constituents represented by the city and the county.”
“This is just an ante. There’s a lot more money that’s going to pile up on the table,” Dolich said.