A's interested in buying entire Oakland Coliseum site
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- With their options narrowing and other potential bidders circling, the Oakland Athletics have pitched a new idea to the city and county of Alameda to buy the Coliseum outright.
It initially came in a letter from A's president Dave Kaval, an offer to buy the 120-acres Coliseum property, outright.
"It's a big deal obviously," said Kaval. "We put in offer to buy the Coliseum complex outright from the city and the county. I think it obviously show our commitment to the city."
VIDEO: A's make offer to buy Oakland Coliseum property
"When I met with him on Friday, I told him he needed to put it in writing," said Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid, who explained that the A's offer to retire more than $135 million in debt Oakland and Alameda County currently carry on both the Coliseum and Oracle arena is the most attractive part.
Oakland and Alameda County currently pay $11 million per year to service that debt.
"That $11 million that we pay. If there's $11 million fresh, new in our coffers to be spent on other things," said Reid.
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The A's maintain they're still considering a second site, the Howard Terminal near Jack London Square.
And while the team is asking for an exclusive negotiating agreement, it may not be in the city's best interest to give them one given the fact others have expressed interest in buying the property and developing it with or without a baseball stadium.
"We had valued it at about $200 million," said Chris Dobbins, with the Joint Powers Authority. "So the 136 is obviously lower, but I would think as a negotiation, you're going to start somewhere and the total amount of debt on both facilities is a good place to start."
"I'm certainly not committing today to a specific price," said Oakland City Council Member Rebecca Kaplan. "We're going to certainly have to have our own process, which includes looking at appraisals, so we're certainly going to have to have that discussion internally."
A's president Dave Kaval is expected to meet with Oakland city officials this week to discuss the team's offer-face to face.
In a written statement, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said "I'm excited to work with the A's in their commitment to stay in Oakland and build a privately financed ball park. We look forward to reviewing, analyzing, and considering the offer."
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