The site is owned by the city and the county, and the A's have agreed to pay for the county's 50% shareGETTY IMAGES
The city of Oakland has "sued Alameda County to block the county from selling its ownership in the 155-acre Coliseum arena site" to the A's, who hope to "develop that land to help fund" a new waterfront facility, according to Matier & Ravani of the S.F. CHRONICLE. A's President Dave Kaval said the club was "completely blindsided" and "very disappointed" by the city's lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Alameda County Superior Court. The suit also "apparently upset Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf." She said that she "hopes the city 'suspends' the suit." Oakland has "asked a judge to issue an injunction to stop the sale of the land and to force the county to instead enter into negotiations to sell the land to the city." The site is "jointly owned by the city and the county, and the A's have agreed to pay the county" $85M for the county's 50% share. Oakland officials "accused the county of violating the Surplus Lands Act, a state law that requires publicly owned surplus lands to be considered for affordable housing before the lands are sold or leased." County officials have said that they have been "trying to get out of the sports business and had been in discussions with the city" since '15 to "sell the county share -- to no avail." The city, however, "claims that county officials did not negotiate in good faith and were already privately negotiating a sale with the A's." It is "unclear how the lawsuit could impact the team's plans to build a privately financed ballpark at Oakland's Howard Terminal" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/1).
