Black-Led Firm to Buy County’s Half of Oakland Coliseum

The African American Sports and Entertainment Group is poised to buy half of the Oakland Coliseum after the county received needed paperwork before it finalizes a sale.

The Sacramento-based developer submitted a couple of key documents to purchase Alameda County’s half of the 112-acre stadium complex at 7000 South Coliseum Way, in East Oakland, Fox2 KTVU reported.

In January, Alameda County Supervisors voted to enter into talks with the developer to buy the county’s share of the former home of the Oakland A’s, decamping to Las Vegas. The cost: $125 million.

To move forward, the county said last week it needed two documents from the would-be buyer: a quit-claim deed and a release related to litigation, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

County Supervisor David Haubert told Fox2 KTVU on Friday the documents were received, signaling a big step forward in the sale.

The county also expected to get them in time to approve a sale on Tuesday, March 11.

The county had asked the entertainment group to hold a $100 million insurance policy to cover unspecified costs after closing. The entertainment group made a counter offer to hold a $30 million policy for the next two years, which the county had yet to accept late last week.

City staff were concerned that a paperwork delay could cause investors to pull their funding and kill the redevelopment deal. The entertainment group and Loop Capital, a major Black-owned investment firm based in Chicago, could not be reached by the Business Times for comment.

County negotiators said they had expected to have the required paperwork to allow for final approval from supervisors on Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Coliseum complex includes the stadium, the arena, administrative offices and acres of parking. The entertainment group’s proposed $5 billion redevelopment project calls for homes, hotels, a convention center, youth amphitheater, restaurants and museums, while retaining the aging stadium.

In 2019, the A’s bought the county’s share of the site for $85 million, and were in the process of paying for it when the team left Oakland for Las Vegas.

In July, the entertainment group agreed to buy the city’s share of the Coliseum property for $105 million.

In August, the MLB franchise struck a deal with the entertainment group to sell its stake for $125 million, which required final approval by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

— Dana Bartholomew