The Oakland City Council on Friday "voted unanimously to add Alameda County to the joint agreement the city signed" with Renaissance Cos. Chair Floyd Kephart's New City Development, which is trying to finance a multibillion redevelopment at the proposed Coliseum City complex," according to Mike Blasky of the OAKLAND TRIBUNE. The county and city jointly own and manage the 120-acre Coliseum site, which is home to O.co Coliseum and Oracle Arena, and Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney said that the agreement "is a crucial step." Blasky wrote officials "envision a densely packed urban center at the site with housing, retail and new stadiums to entice the Raiders and the A's to stay in Oakland." The county board of supervisors tomorrow will "decide whether to join the exclusive negotiating agreement," but it "seems to be a lock." Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley said that it is "important that officials can directly negotiate with the A's and Raiders on competing development proposals to keep at least one of the teams." Blasky noted the Raiders, who just signed a one-year lease to remain in Oakland, "have expressed interest in working with Kephart," but the A's "have not" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 3/21).
CRITICAL NEGOTIATIONS: In S.F., Rachel Swan noted the current proposal is a "significantly scaled-back version of the 800-acre Coliseum City that former mayor Jean Quan envisioned, but council members say it’s also a lot more viable." At 200 acres, it would "comprise exclusively public land, and not force the city to haggle over swaths of property it doesn’t own." It also "relieves Oakland of additional cost burdens" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/21). Also in S.F., Ron Leuty writes the exclusive negotiations are "crucial to resolving what will happen" to $95-100M in debt "tied to the Coliseum." A 55,000-seat Raiders stadium "is the linchpin" of the development plan. Kephart said that the "soonest the Raiders could begin play in a new Oakland stadium" is '19. The venue debt "is scheduled to be paid off" in '25. McElhaney said that Friday's vote was an important signal to the Raiders, the NFL and Southern California communities "hoping to woo the Raiders that Oakland and Alameda County are united" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/20).
MAN ON A MISSION: In Oakland, Matthew Artz profiled Kephart, who has spent more than $2M since October "trying to finance and structure the multibillion-dollar development deal." Kephart insists funding the project "should be doable." But "convincing key parties that he can get the deal done -- or that the deal is even viable -- remains a challenge." Many people "are rooting for Kephart to succeed -- not just to keep the Raiders from making good on their threat to move" to L.A., but to "help the city finally generate significant tax proceeds from so many vacant acres with easy access" to BART, Amtrak and Oakland Int'l Airport. While Coliseum City "has potential, it still lacks two components critical to most major sports developments: a commitment of public funds and a team willing to buy into it." Miley: "I think Kephart is very shrewd. He's going to push us as far as he can push us. And we have to push back to get as much private money into this as possible" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 3/22).
