OAKLAND (KRON) — Negotiations for selling the Oakland Coliseum site has led to a lawsuit between the City of Oakland and Alameda County
On Tuesday, both sides held closed door meetings to discuss returning to the negotiating table, with the City of Oakland facing a pre-condition before talks can resume.
First it was the commissioner of Major League Baseball telling the City of Oakland to drop it’s lawsuit against Alameda County or risk losing the team to another city.
Now it is Alameda County saying take the lawsuit off of the table or there will be no negotiations between the two for the sell of the coliseum site
“My colleagues on the board of supervisors say they will not entertain any discussions with the city until the lawsuit goes away,” said Larry Ried with the Oakland City Council.
Councilmember Reid says the City of Oakland filed the lawsuit to prevent the county from selling its share of the land to the A’s for the price of $85 million.
“The lawsuit is based on the surplus property act, that you have to put it out to the public, either around the $85million range that the A’s and the county has been discussing or a higher dollar amount,” Reid said.
He said the city was preserving its rights as it relates to the sale of the land since it’s owned by both the city and the county.
However Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley is on the record saying there is an exemption that allows the county to negotiate directly with the A’s.
Reid says the county is willing to take a payment plan from the A’s — terms not offered to the City of Oakland
“The A’s are offering $85 million over seven years until the debt is paid off,” Reid said. “It should be good enough for us.”
So why is the coliseum site is commingled with the A’s privately funded ballpark at the Howard Terminal site?
“I can give you my opinion. The A’s want to control that land,” Reid said. “The kind of development that they were proposing on that land would definitely go a long way with helping to fund the privately financed at Howard street terminal.”
Tuesday the city and county held separate closed door sessions to discuss the possibility of returning to the negotiating table.
They have until Nov. 14 to reach an agreement before a court hearing scheduled to settle the dispute.
In a statement late Tuesday, the city said: “The City is committed to keeping the A’s rooted in Oakland. We remain committed to working together with the County and the A’s to address the lawsuit and to negotiate a path forward for the Coliseum property that is financially responsible, benefits City residents and is in the public interest.”