OAKLAND — The future of the Oakland Coliseum has hung in the balance for years, but 2026 could prove especially pivotal for one of the East Bay’s most notable pieces of real estate.
Key deadlines loom over an Oakland-based development coalition, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, which is seeking to buy the entire 112-acre property in what was previously announced as a combined $250 million purchase.
The group, a coalition with mostly Black officials that includes local stakeholders, a big-name sports agent and a large investment firm, has been publicly scrutinized for its ambitious pitch to transform the complex into a new hub of nightlife, housing, live sports, restaurants and retail in East Oakland.
The next six months may reveal if the group can deliver on that promise.
Few details have emerged publicly since last year about how the deal is progressing. Through an entity called the Oakland Acquisition Company, the group and its financial backer, investment fund Loop Capital, was expected to pay $125 million to the Athletics baseball franchise by the end of January.
But officials on both sides of the deal declined to confirm Tuesday whether that agreed-upon date remains in place, or if it may be extended to June 30, 2026, the deadline for the group to pay another $125 million to the city of Oakland.
“When we embarked on this journey we did not realize how complicated the transaction would be,” Ray Bobbitt, the group’s co-founder and its public face, said in a statement.
But the entities involved, Bobbitt added, have “gone above and beyond to… resolve unforeseen obstacles and to make this vision of bringing a world class development to Oakland and the East Bay a reality.”
The A’s and the city each claim a 50 percent ownership stake in the property, though the baseball team’s real-estate arm will appear on the title deed only after longstanding bonds to improve the arena are finally paid off in February.
The Golden State Warriors, which moved from Oakland to San Francisco in 2019, are expected to make the final $10 million payment on arena debt, which is separate from the AASEG deal.
The bonds stretch back three decades, beginning with renovations that first brought Mount Davis seating section and private suites to the Coliseum ballpark, which helped city officials lure the Raiders back from Los Angeles.
Originally, the development group had sought to pay off the bonds itself. But following an extensive restructuring of its purchase earlier this year, the group will pay only for the Coliseum property, with escrow set to close at the end of June.
Time and again, the complicated transaction has run into snags. The latest would appear to be a discovery by Coliseum officials that for decades they have discharged thousands of gallons of water into a slough that flows to San Leandro Bay without a required permit.
If the Coliseum changes hands before the regulatory issue related to the slough is settled, the new owners may be on the hook to get into compliance.
“We’re still in the process of getting that done,” said Henry Gardner, the executive director of a joint agency that manages the Coliseum on behalf of Oakland and Alameda County. It is unclear, he added, when the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board may hold a public hearing to consider the permit.
The whole process could cost taxpayers $659,000, between money spent on consultants, studies and the regulatory process held by the board.
The A’s, meanwhile, could re-emerge a player to develop the site if the development group’s deal falls through. The team entered a deal to purchase the county’s 50 percent ownership stake in 2019 for $85 million, a much lower price point than what AASEG is expected to pay.
Sandy Dean, a team executive, said in a statement Tuesday only that all sides are making “continued progress” in reaching an outcome.
City officials, concerned about such an outcome, had previously explored seeking to seize the property through a process known as eminent domain. Eventually, former Mayor Sheng Thao sought instead to press forward with a sale to AASEG.
Mayor Barbara Lee, who took office after Thao was removed in a recall election by voters last year, has said repeatedly that she is “cautiously optimistic” about the sale.
Other local officials have similarly expressed optimism. Alameda County Supervisor Dave Haubert noted at a meeting earlier this year that a group less committed than AASEG “would have dropped off a long time ago.”
Still, until now the only money that the group has publicly paid for the Coliseum complex is $5 million held in escrow. AASEG rejected an earlier, expedited timeline to acquire the property after city officials declined to grant incremental ownership of the site with each payment installment.
Oakland leaders are no longer counting on revenue from the sale to patch up its deficit-addled budget — a reversal of a plan conceived by Thao that AASEG officials now say they never supported.
Officials involved in the sale said discussions are mostly being led by Loop Capital, the investment firm financing much of land purchase.
The development group promises to transform the complex into a new entertainment megaplex. A promise to build affordable housing has led environmental nonprofit Communities for a Better Environment to call off — for now — a lawsuit it had filed to block the A’s purchase of its ownership stake in 2019.
The stadium, which may be razed, currently hosts the popular Oakland Roots men’s soccer franchise, while a run of cricket matches earlier this year is expected to be renewed in summer 2026.
Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at shomik@bayareanewsgroup.com.