 |
| Coliseum City will not only potentially include three sports facilities, but hotel and dining options, along with a science and technology district west of the Interstate 880 freeway. |
OAKLAND COLISEUM CITY | With the addition of a pair of well-financed investors showing interest in the expansive Coliseum City project, hopes are buoyed the project can keep the Raiders, Athletics and Warriors in the East Bay, the team of developers, though, need more time to work out the details.
A proposal to grant a 12-month extension on the Coliseum City exclusive negotiating agreement signed in March 2012 was approved Tuesday by the Oakland City Council Community and Economic Development Committee. An administrative option to further extend the deal an additional six months is also included in the proposed amendment. The full council will be offered at its next meeting, Oct. 15, with a list of planned deliverables pertaining to the project, most of which will be due within the next six months.
They include a public infrastructure and debt replacement strategy due in January 2014; a market analysis report in March and a public benefit analysis, said Gregory Hunter of the city’s office of neighborhood investment. In addition, the Coliseum City development team hopes to procure letters of interest from the three professional sports franchise currently playing at the Coliseum complex by next April.
Fred Blackwell, Oakland’s assistant city administrator, says “each one of the team are in different places” when it comes to interest in exploring new facilities at Coliseum City. The city still has not been able to engage the Athletics ownership in direct conversations, said Blackwell. The three-person blue ribbon committee set up by the commissioner of Major League Baseball to examine the A’s stadium issue, though, has been offered both the Coliseum City site and another on the waterfront at Howard Terminal, he added.
The administration continues to maintain a hands-off approach when it comes to enticing the Warriors interest away from Piers 30-32 in San Francisco, Blackwell said, but the Raiders continue to show the most interest in building a new football stadium in the city. However, Raiders ownership maintains it is seeking a greater indication of the stadium project’s future progress by the end of the current football season, he said, which runs until thorough December. The Raiders have already had direct conversation over the stadium project with its newest investors, Colony Capital LLC and an investment group led by Dubai financier Rashid Al Malik, it was reported at Tuesday’s committee meeting.
A representative for Councilmember Larry Reid (he did not attend the meeting of which chairs) voiced concern for further extending the exclusive negotiating agreement and the timeline for its completion. Council President Pat Kernighan, though, said the potential investment opportunity is too good for Oakland to pass up. “We’ve been looking for this kind of investment in Oakland for a long, long time,” said Kernighan. “We need to seize the moment here and not be looking at the bees in the bush when we have a bird in the hand.”
Councilmember Libby Schaaf said the latest addition of new investors may make it less likely exorbitant public funds will need to be used on Coliseum City. Otherwise, she said, “I don’t think this city can afford to subsidize or give public money away for the purpose of doing that.”
As it stands, the city and county does not plan for the Coliseum City development team to receive some ownership of the property, said Blackwell, but it may still be up for negotiation. Instead, the current framework calls for the city and Coliseum Authority to provide the land and public infrastructure improvements, said Blackwell, “but it’s not our expectation that we would contribute to the actual vertical development.”
ebcitizen.com 
Gentrification. Ok, but where are the low income folks living in that section of Oakland supposed to go? There's an interesting article in Sunday's Chronicle about the gentry who moved into the Bayview trying to prevent a homeless shelter from being built there. http://bit.ly/HFsCch
The low income residents, the homeless, the criminals can not be wished away. Should Oakland push them out…. into Danville perhaps?
LikeLike
I feel Oakland can retain all teams. It just takes investors and belief from the City. If you look at Where the Giants play, one time China basin was a place YOU DID NOT WANT TO VISIT because of its high crime area. Enter GENTRIFICATION ! with all the great hoopla for the former PAC Bell Park it changed the area and the culture of the area as well. Also consider Comerica Park and Ford Field. They were both built in shitty parts of detroit and like PAC Bell it changed the area and the crime has decreased due to lovely gentrification. I hope Oakland has studied those parks ..The Bay Area Has much more money than Detroit and has more potential to grow. So these politicians needs to stop picking they're asses and move forward for the community
LikeLike
In theory this sounds absolutely amazing! I hope the logistics work out, and the ownership of the 3 teams agree. This will give Oakland a much needed boost!
LikeLike
I know this is a bit much to ask. It seems to me that it could just possibly be useful to make an attempt to measure the economic costs and benefits to Oakland of such a project. To do this would require setting up a system for data gathering and record-keeping at the outset, like right now. I think it might be useful to make an estimate of the costs to date (including city staff time already expended).
Please excuse this attempt to infuse a bit of reality into the situation. We do have other things to take care of in Oakland.
LikeLike
Place both stadiums on the water; do not locate either anywhere else. Constrain the size of each. Pay attention to site lines; create dramatic video shot locations. AT&T/Pac-Bell proved the wisdom of this approach.
LikeLike
Things are looking up. I just hope our leadership can make it happen. It's not a knock, but we need a home run.
LikeLike
Opportunities abound with so many underdeveloped parcels in the area, its proximity to public transit, the airport and freeway, and the draw of 2 sports/entertainment venues in the immediate vicinity. Has the potential for another long term SOM/ATT Park type development project . Although east Oakland has a long way to go to equal a SF based project. Hope the effort pays off with more jobs and tax revenue.
LikeLike