In the spirit of promoting successful new development and keeping the Oakland A’s baseball team in Oakland, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has formally moved to negotiate the sale of the County’s share of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum complex to the City of Oakland.
The Board renewed its decision to sell in the wake of recent expressions of interest by the A’s to purchase the Coliseum property to build a new home stadium there. Alameda County strongly believes that negotiating such a purchase and a plan for future development of the Coliseum properties would be simplified – and more likely successful – if the properties had a single owner.
Since the City of Oakland ultimately controls land use related to the Coliseum properties, Alameda County believes the best way to accomplish this is for the County to sell its ownership interest in the Coliseum complex to the City. This would enable the City to negotiate a single Exclusive Negotiating Agreement (ENA) with the Oakland A’s for the Coliseum properties.
For more than 50 years, Alameda County and Oakland have jointly owned, operated and managed the Coliseum complex, the home of three championship franchises – the A’s, Oakland Raiders and Golden State Warriors. Alameda County and Oakland also jointly own the Raiders training facility and headquarters in the City of Alameda.
Over the past several years, all three teams have sought new home stadiums. While both Alameda County and Oakland have been committed to keeping the teams in Oakland, efforts to retain the teams have been complex due to the joint ownership of these properties.
Alameda County officials will now begin talks with the City of Oakland to sell its share of the Raiders’ Alameda properties and the Coliseum complex – defined as the parcel containing the Coliseum and Oracle Arena, as well as an adjacent parking lot known as the “Malibu site.”
Alameda County believes that the jointly owned Coliseum properties will be made available for major development in the near future, given their prime location adjacent to Interstate 880, BART and other transportation infrastructure.
Negotiating the sale of the County’s share will enhance the City’s abilities to pursue its vision for substantial new development at the Coliseum site as expressed in its Coliseum Plan and facilitate retention of the Oakland A’s
