An appraisal of the 120-acre O.co Coliseum/Oracle Arena site initiated by the city of Oakland and Alameda County could lead to the sale of the property to Oakland City Pro Football Group, an investment group led by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott.
Oakland City Pro Football Group is seeking to keep the NFL in Oakland at a new stadium on the current Coliseum site, but has no ties at the moment with Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis, who is seeking to build a new stadium in Las Vegas for the Silver and Black.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has already voted to move forward with the appraisal in anticipation of the potential Coliseum land sale; the city is expected to do the same next week. From the San Jose Mercury News:
“I’m happy that we are moving forward together as one in our efforts to work to keep the Raiders here in the city of Oakland,” Councilman Larry Reid said. “I’m hoping that our council will do the same that the county Board of Supervisors did this last Tuesday.”
City officials said it will take a month to appraise the Coliseum grounds.
Lott is leading a team of mostly black investors that includes former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete and Atlanta developer Egbert Perry, chairman of the board of Fannie Mae. Lott played two seasons with the Raiders in Los Angeles (1991-92) after 10 years with the 49ers (1981-90). Peete was with the Raiders in 2000-2001 but played in only one game.
Oakland officials have made it pretty clear the city has limited resources to put toward a new Raiders stadium — or a new Oakland Athletics ballpark, for that matter — and a Coliseum land sale to the Lott group is seen as a path toward keeping the Raiders in town.
Past that, it doesn’t seem there is a solid plan in place; the Lott group has not had talks with the Athletics about a two-facility site, which has been discussed in the past. And until a proposed new San Francisco arena clears a legal challenge, Oracle Arena is home to the Golden State Warriors (NBA).