The A's are "offering to either buy out" the city of Oakland's half share in the RingCentral Coliseum site for $85M or "enter into a long-term lease," according to sources cited by Phil Matier of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The proposed deal includes a "community benefits package and a provision that the team build a new ballpark elsewhere in town," which it is "already planning at the Port of Oakland's Howard Terminal." In return, the city "must drop the lawsuit it filed to block Alameda County from selling its half share of the site to the A's." The new proposal "calls for the city and team to enter into a six-month exclusive negotiating agreement and explore the team's either buying or leasing the city's half of the site as part of a larger commercial and residential development." The A's have also "agreed to pick up the operating costs" for the Coliseum and Oracle Arena, which are "estimated to run" $15-20M a year. In return, the team "would agree to stay in Oakland and not pursue a possible relocation deal with another city during the six months of negotiations." If the A's are "unable to deliver on their end of the deal, or unable to come up with a mutually agreed-upon deal for a new ballpark in Oakland -- at Howard Terminal or elsewhere -- the city would have the right to keep its half of the property and buy back the A's share if that deal goes through with the county" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/23).
