A's Sell 50% Stake in Oakland Coliseum Complex for $125M

The Oakland A’s have agreed to sell their ownership stake in the Coliseum complex, clearing the way for the redevelopment of a 155-acre site that includes the stadium and the Oakland Arena.

The MLB team is selling its 50% share of the site to the African American Sports & Entertainment Group (AASEG) for $125M, the same group of local developers who last week finalized a $105M deal for the other half of the complex with the city of Oakland, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The A’s, which are building a new stadium in Las Vegas, bought Alameda County’s half of the sports and entertainment complex in 2019 for $85M. The team has been paying off the acquisition in installments, with $45M still owed to the county.

AASEG’s deal with the A’s covers the remaining debt to the county as well as operating costs that the baseball team had been covering for the county, the report said.

AASEG has proposed a $5B mixed-use mega-project for the site that will include housing, a new convention center, a youth amphitheater, restaurants and museums, with 25% of the housing designated as affordable.

The development group has said it does not plan to tear down the 57-year-old Coliseum, a venue that once was home to the NFL’s Raiders, another team that moved from Oakland to Las Vegas, as well as the A’s, who moved to Oakland in 1968 from Kansas City.

Also, AASEG is not planning to tear down the Arena next to the Coliseum, which formerly was the home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Last year, when AASEG announced its deal with the city, the group said it was aiming to bring a black-owned NFL franchise and a WNBA team to Oakland.

AASEG was formed in 2020 by a group of civic leaders in the city to develop sports and entertainment venues to enhance economic equity.

“Having one entity control the entire Coliseum site will fast track much-needed and deeply deserved development in East Oakland,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said, in a statement.

“I applaud the A’s for doing the right thing and coming to their own terms with AASEG for the county’s half of the land. Again, this isn’t a short-term solution. This is a multi-billion-dollar development that is going to deliver affordable housing, jobs, business opportunities, community benefits and tax revenue for decades to come,” the mayor said.

The redevelopment will take place in phases over the next 15 years. AASEG is covering the cost of acquiring the site through Loop Capital, a Chicago-based investment banking firm.

Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan told the Chronicle that an Enhanced Infrastructure Financial District may be created for the Coliseum complex redevelopment.

Starting with the 2025 MLB season, the A’s will play in Sutter Health Park in Sacramento until their new ballpark in Las Vegas is completed.