Good News For Raider Nation: One-Year Lease Signed at Coliseum

Oakland Raiders fans display a sign during the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on October 28, 2012 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

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The board that oversees operations at the Oakland Coliseum complex today approved a one-year lease extension for the Raiders football team, which recently announced that it’s considering moving to the Los Angeles area.

Joint Powers Authority board members and the Raiders said they plan to remain in active discussions for additional lease extensions and stadium projects on the site. If the agreement is approved as expected by the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the Raiders’ lease at the aging O.co Coliseum will be extended through the end of the 2015-2016 football season.

It calls for the Raiders to pay a fee of $400,000 in December with an additional fee for use of their training facility in Alameda.

Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid, who chairs the Joint Powers Authority, said, “This is a good start and we need to maintain this momentum.”

Referring to the possibility of building new stadiums at the Coliseum site for the Raiders and the A’s baseball team, Reid said, “Starting today, we can work with new urgency and take a fresh look at the opportunity ahead of us to find a solution for our teams and our community.”

The city of Oakland has granted an exclusive negotiating agreement with an investor group called New City Development LLC that’s trying to build a massive development at the Coliseum site that would include a new football stadium.

In addition to a football stadium, the Coliseum City project would include housing, retail stores and hotels. Oakland officials also hope that the project could include a new baseball stadium for the A’s.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf recently proposed that the agreement that be amended to also include Alameda County so the new government entities can work together because they jointly own and manage the Coliseum site.

The investor group is headed by Floyd Kephart, the chairman of the board of Renaissance Companies, a San Diego firm that advises hedge funds, private equity groups and financial institutions.

Reid said today, “The city and county are in discussions with Mr. Kephart about the negotiating agreement.”

He said, “The Raiders are there (in terms of amending the agreement) and the city is there and I think the county will be there soon.”

Raiders officials have said they are committed to trying to reach a deal that would keep the team in Oakland but two weeks ago they said they also are considering a proposal to partner with the San Diego Charges to build a new stadium in Carson, 15 miles south of Los Angeles.

--Bay City News

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