AASEG signs deal with Oakland for $5B Coliseum makeover

Black-owned developer aims to build retail village and convention center near stadium

AASEG's Ray Bobbitt and the RingCentral Coliseum

AASEG’s Ray Bobbitt and the RingCentral Coliseum (Getty, AASEG)

The City of Oakland and African American Sports and Entertainment Group have cut a deal on a $5 billion plan to redevelop the 100-acre Oakland Coliseum.

The agreement could revitalize RingCentral Coliseum at 7000 Joe Morgan Way and draw a new sports team to the East Oakland stadium, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Under the agreement, the city transfers 50 percent interest in the Coliseum to AASEG, making it the largest transfer of public land to an African American-owned business in Oakland’s history, according to a post on the city’s website. The Coliseum is currently home to the A’s baseball team.

The deal includes an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Oakland-based developer to revamp the 57-year-old Coliseum complex with homes, a convention center, hotel, restaurants, museums and an outdoor amphitheater for youth sports.

AASEG has two years to negotiate and bring a plan to the City Council for the project. The company formed in 2020 to utilize sports and entertainment to enhance economic equity, according to its website.
Plans call for a renovated Coliseum that could host a WNBA team, concerts and Disney on Ice events. AASEG has priced the cost of development at more than $5 billion.

The agreement with AASEG requires the developer to pay the city a fee of $200,000 a year and $2.5 million in one-time funds to cover staff time.

The group, which is offering city $115 million to buy the city’s half-interest in the site, includes former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb, Oakland developer Alan Dones, former chair of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce Shonda Scott, former NBA player and sports agent Bill Duffy, and Loop Capital, an African American-owned investment firm.

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The other half of the Coliseum is owned by the A’s. The team is negotiating with the city to build a $12 billion upgraded ballpark and 3,000-unit retail village at Howard Terminal, with the team also considering a relocation to Las Vegas.

AASEG has expressed interest in bringing Black-owned NFL and WNBA teams to the city. Oakland has recently lost the Warriors to San Francisco and the Raiders to Las Vegas, making the A’s the last professional franchise in the city.

A new WNBA team for the city seems more realistic than attracting an NFL team. The league has recently expressed intentions for expansion in 2023 and vice mayor Rebecca Kaplan led a resolution in September to publicly support bringing a WNBA team to the city. AASEG is also working on completing and submitting a proposal to bring a WNBA team to Oakland.

As for redevelopment, Ray Bobbitt, an East Oakland native who is leading AASEG, said his team wants to build an undetermined number of homes — 35 percent of which would be affordable.

Also, the group wants to create a hotel and a “restaurant row” that features Oakland Black-owned businesses, plus a Black business district and a Black-owned bank. It envisions two museums, one focused on African American arts, culture and sports and another to honor Native American and Latino culture.

— Dana Bartholomew and Naidu Pawan