Oakland deadline for Raiders stadium met, developer says
San Diego real estate developer Floyd Kephart said Monday night he has met the first benchmark deadline in an attempt to build a new stadium to keep the Raiders in Oakland by submitting so-called key deliverables. Kephart faced a Monday deadline to send details of his plans to the city of Oakland and Alameda County.
Officials have 20 business days to either accept, reject or ask Kephart for clarifications on his plan. Kephart said he hopes to hear some feedback by next week.
The deadline was designed for Kephart to show the powers that be that he has a viable plan in place. Kephart said he is confident his plan can work while admitting there is still work to do between the Raiders and the city and county.
The biggest sticking points there involve land, infrastructure cost and debt-transfer issues.
"I think we delivered a good product," Kephart said. "If we can get a little bit of movement from the city and county at this stage and a little bit of movement from the Raiders at the next stage, we can get a deal. It's not nearly as complicated as what's going on in San Diego."
The project has a plan for major redevelopment with office, retail and housing. The Raiders want to get a deal in Oakland finalized by the end of this year.
The Raiders and the San Diego Chargers have teamed for a proposed new stadium in Carson, California, should neither team get a deal done with their current cites by the end of this year.
The Carson project appears to have good momentum, while little has been done in Oakland and there has been major recent acrimony in San Diego between the city and the Chargers.
Oakland owner Mark Davis has said several times that his wish is to get a deal done with Oakland, but he has to see progress. Scott McKibben, the executive director of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, said again Friday that if the Kephart talks don't pan out, officials are prepared to move on to other options before the Raiders' end-of-the-year deadline.
