A’s seek Coliseum purchase as stadium options shrivel

The Oakland A’s on Sunday sent a letter to Mayor Libby Schaaf and the City Council expressing the team’s desire to assume control of the Oakland Coliseum complex in exchange for paying more than $135 million in debt currently owed by the city and Alameda County at the site.

The Coliseum, the team’s current home, was one of three sites under consideration for a new privately financed ballpark. The A’s were also looking at Howard Terminal near Jack London Square and a Peralta Community College District property near Lake Merritt.

In September, the Peralta board of trustees advised the team that they would no longer negotiate a sale of the site, eliminating the option near Lake Merritt.

In the letter sent Sunday by Oakland A’s president Dave Kaval, he wrote:

“… it has become clear that the A’s need to solidify control of the one site in Oakland that offers an assured path for the development of a new privately financed baseball venue — the existing Coliseum complex.”

Kaval wrote that the A’s seek to purchase the complex, which is jointly owned by the city of Oakland and Alameda County and also includes Oracle Arena, by paying all remaining debt service on the more than $135 million in debt owed by the two municipalities:

“If consummated, our offer would end the long-standing cash drain from the city and county’s general funds caused by ownership of the Coliseum, and ensure that the A’s possess one assured route to a new privately financed stadium in Oakland.”

Kaval wrote that the team is still looking into the viability of the Howard Terminal site and has “had favorable preliminary conversations with various representatives” of the Port of Oakland.

However, he wrote:

“… transportation solutions and the costs of large needed infrastructure improvements are major outstanding items for Howard Terminal, along with the numerous public agencies with jurisdiction of this waterfront site.”

The team is seeking to enter into a formal exclusive negotiating agreement regarding the Coliseum site, according to Kaval.

“This is a critical moment for the A’s and our community. The venue process has taken too long,” he wrote of a years-long process that has been complicated by the futures of the Oakland Raiders football team and Golden State Warriors basketball team who also share the Coliseum complex.

The Raiders plan on moving to Las Vegas in the coming years, while the Warriors will move across the Bay to San Francisco.

Kaval wrote to the city:

“The future of the A’s is too important to further risk alternate uses of the Coliseum at this time. … We are grateful for your ongoing reception and support to help keep the A’s in Oakland.”