‘This is on the precipice of actually occurring,’ said Ray Bobbitt, buyers’ representative

By Post Staff

After many months of complex negotiations, the Oakland Coliseum development deal is finally nearing an agreement that will open the way for new owners – the African Americans Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) – to revitalize the sports complex and the Hegenberger Corridor in East Oakland.

On May 28, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a non-binding agreement to dispose of the County’s portion of the complex for $115 million in a deal with AASEG, with a closing date set for June 30.

“People are seeing that this is on the precipice of actually occurring,” said Ray Bobbitt, founder of the AASEG and an East Oakland native. “People feel that this needs to happen for Oakland, for East Oakland in particular,” Bobbitt said, as reported in the East Bay Times.

The agreement would transfer ownership of the 112-acre Coliseum complex property, which was owned 50-50 by Alameda County and the City of Oakland, to Oakland Acquisition Company, which is AASEG’s real estate wing.

The County’s approval marks an important step in the sale of the property, even though concerns about environmental liability remain. Under the terms of the non-binding agreement, the county will pay $115 million to Coliseum Way Partners, the corporate entity of the Oakland Athletics that had previously purchased the county’s half of the property for $85 million.

AASEG will then pay $115 million to the County in three annual payments, with 5% annual interest paid on any outstanding balance, according to the term sheet.

AASEG already negotiated a purchase of the city’s half of the property for $125 million in 2025, awaiting the sale of the county’s half.

A strong supporter of the sale, Supervisor Nate Miley said he was not “breaking out the champagne” until the sale was final. This is not perfect, but it is good.

“It’s good because the County ends up with more money,” Miley continued. “It’s good because an African American team takes ownership of the property, and they’ve got a lot of potential in terms of what they want to do with the property.”

A remaining disagreement between Alameda County and the AASEG involves environmental concerns.

AASEG wanted a “carve-out” for environmental concerns so that it would not face liability for the release of groundwater into San Francisco Bay without a permit. Obtaining a permit could be time-consuming and expensive, requiring the need for consultants, studies, and an oversight process by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.

County supervisors unanimously supported the non-binding agreement without the carve-out, though Bobbitt said delaying or excluding the carve-out creates timing risks for the project.

“The motion is to accept the terms as presented, excluding the carve-out,” Board of Supervisors President David Haubert said. “Noting that it’s a non-binding term sheet and terms can always be discussed going forward. It’s been pointed out that that could affect the deal, timing, which we’ve been at this for nine years, but what’s a little more time?”

The deal includes the sale of the Oakland Arena to an unidentified third-party buyer for no less than $100 million, which Bobbitt said was one of the most important aspects of the site’s future redevelopment.

“The arena represents an anchor of the site,” said Babbitt. “This arena … has become a pop culture mecca, and the opportunity to enhance that and expand that is critical to the overall process.”

Speaking at the Board of Supervisors meeting, Miley explained the County’s reasoning behind some of the complex negotiations. He asked interim County Counsel Andrea Weddle:

“In layman’s term’s who’s on the hook for the environmental (cleanup)” under the current deal with the Oakland A’s?

“When the county with a former board entered in the deal with the (A’s), we took on all of the environmental obligations,” Miley said. “Since then, we’ve learned a lot more about the environmental conditions of the Coliseum.”

“If we do a deal with Coliseum Way Partners (the A’s), we remain on the hook,” she said. “If we do a deal as we’ve currently structured with OAC (AASEG), we have eliminated some or hopefully all (or) as much as we can of that liability and aligned our deal with the terms of the city.”

Bobbitt, despite his concerns, supported the nonbinding agreement. He said the public has waited nearly a decade to come to this point.

“The community support has been overwhelming,” he said. “We’ve used a lot of P-words: patience, perseverance, persistence. And we’ve just had to do it, and we understand how complex this has been.”

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“I feel lonely,” Keke Palmer’s character Corvette says in the first few minutes “I Love Boosters,” the new comedy adventure film from Oakland-based director Boots Riley.

“I wish I could feel lonely,” Naomi Ackie’s character Sade responds. “Try having kids.”

“I Love Boosters” teems with kaleidoscopic colors, sharp playful social critique, otherworldly plot twists, and fast-paced action, but it’s grounded in its main characters’ simple and relatable motivations: They want to be less isolated, and more free to pursue their own creative endeavors.

They’d like to design clothes and run a fashion boutique, but, unfortunately, they’re mostly busy surviving. Corvette and Sade, along with Mariah, played by Taylour Page, hustle and scheme through their brilliant scrappy organized crime group, the Velvet Gang. The gang regularly boosts clothes in the Bay Area and sells them at discounted prices.

Riley portrays the gang in a positive light in “I Love Boosters,” echoing the sentiment and title of a song he recorded 20 years ago with his hip-hop band, The Coup, where he praises boosters for providing poor communities with nice clothes they can afford: like a Robin Hood of the ’hood. But while morally righteous, materially, the gang is troubled. Corvette is haunted by unpaid bills and fears getting kicked out of the building where she squats, a shuttered fast-food chicken joint.

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One thing that separates Riley’s film from most others about criminal gangs is that the Velvet Gang’s members work for a living. Theirs isn’t a greedy fantasy of becoming filthy rich, or for one last hit: Boosting is a job that still doesn’t pay nearly enough.

Riley’s creative output is influenced by progressive ideals. His work, which includes six albums, the 2018 film “Sorry to Bother You,” and the 2023 comedy series “I’m a Virgo,” always shows that the alienation working-class people feel is inevitable under capitalism, he recently told The Guardian.

Visually, the film is a mix of psychedelia, afro-surrealism, noir, and perhaps a comic book.

The villain, Christie Smith, played by Demi Moore, an evil genius billionaire and fashion designer who runs the expensive clothing company the gang boosts from. She repeatedly appears on the news to put a target on the Velvet Gang members’ backs. When the gang ends up connecting with those who Christie directly exploits –workers here in the Bay Area, but also those in sweatshops overseas– the fight against Christie can commence; and uncoincidentally, Corvette starts to feel less lonely.

I don’t want to say much about that fight, but it’s delightful. Sci-Fi elements (which appear connected to Marxist theory) enter into the narrative to tie what’s become a pretty scatterbrained story together. Grounded by Palmer’s acting, “I Love Boosters” is a total joy and a refreshing break from the typical narratives we see these days. It’s totally over-the-top, but it knows it is.

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