Floyd Kephart is "being dropped as Coliseum City developer in a move local leaders hope will speed up and simplify stadium negotiations" with both the A's and Raiders, according to Matthew Artz of the OAKLAND TRIBUNE. The "joint decision by Oakland council members and Alameda County supervisors not to renew Kephart's negotiating rights to the project sets the stage for a flurry of direct stadium talks with the Raiders, who, unlike their baseball co-tenants at O.Co Coliseum, are threatening to leave Oakland for Southern California next season if no deal is reached." Negotiations with the two teams "often seemed to take a back seat" to the $4B mega-project championed by Kephart. The stadium itself, "at least for now, will take precedence over any surrounding development." However, the removal of Kephart as a third-party developer "doesn't remedy" the estimated $400M funding gap for a new $900M football stadium. Nor does it "change the fact that Oakland, unlike most other NFL cities, says it won't use taxpayer funds to help pay for it." Kephart was brought aboard almost a year ago "to help address the funding gap by developing a bustling urban center around the new stadium." But confidence in him "waned after he released a widely panned initial financing plan in June, and the teams stopped talking to him months ago." He "did not respond to an interview request Friday." Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley "declined to discuss anything about Kephart." But he said that the city and county "would continue direct negotiations with both teams and with each other to determine whether the city can buy out the county's share of the 120-acre property." Miley also "wouldn't rule out the inclusion of a new third-party investor to help finance a stadium project" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 9/19).
