A’s allowed to negotiate to buy Oakland’s share of the Coliseum

The A’s may not have to worry about paying rent at the Oakland Coliseum in the future. Instead, the team could be months away from dealing with mortgage payments on the property.

Facing a $122 million budget shortfall this year, the Oakland City Council authorized negotiations to sell the city’s half of the 155-acre Coliseum property to the A’s, multiple sources confirmed to the Bay Area News Group on Monday.

In a closed session meeting last Thursday, the council reversed its thinking on how to deal with its share of the Coliseum and is ready to oblige the A’s wishes to own and develop the site, the Chronicle reported.

In a lawsuit filed last October by Oakland that was ultimately withdrawn at the behest of Major League Baseball, the city tried to block Alameda County’s sale of its 50% share of the Coliseum site to the A’s for $85 million. The A’s, who haven’t given up hopes to build a privately financed stadium at Howard Terminal, still want to redevelop the Coliseum complex to generate revenue for its prospective

new home near Jack London Square.

The A’s, who didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the negotiations with the city, were originally set to close on their $85 million purchase of the county’s share of the Coliseum by next week. However, the effects of COVID-19 pushed back that date to Oct. 5, when terms of the deal become final.

Now, instead of working with the city to develop the Coliseum site, the A’s are set to enter talks with the city to make the Coliseum their own.

It took a global pandemic and a crippling local economy for the city of Oakland to realize it could no longer wait to help dig itself out of a financial hole.

Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo said the city is losing money fast at the Coliseum.

“There’s no baseball or activity at the Coliseum, no activities at Oracle, and we’re investing $6.5 million to keep them both safely open,” Gallo said. “Considering where we are today with the coronavirus and where the city is financially ... the reality is the Oakland A’s still keep knocking on the door and we wanted to open up negotiations.”

Included in Oakland’s city budget shortfall is the $1.2 million in annual rent money the A’s still owe. The A’s have deferred their rent payment due to the pandemic.

In order to own the land, the A’s would likely need to pay at least the same $85 million they paid to the County, Gallo said.

Council President Rebecca Kaplan indicated there are certain terms the city needs in any Coliseum land deal.

“Any ultimate decision about the Coliseum would come to open session. If and when we do have a full proposal before us — I would insist that it include affordable housing,” Kaplan said.