Oakland Coliseum City ENA Approved By Oakland City Council

The Oakland Coliseum City ENA, or “Exclusive Negotiating Agreement” was unanimously approved by the Oakland City Council Tuesday night. (FYI: Councilmembers Larry Reid of District Seven and Pat Kergnihan of District Two were not in attendance.)

Before I get to the technicals, here’s Dr. Death’s classic plea to the Oakland City Council for them to support the Coliseum City development:

To be clear, this is just the first step on a process journey that will lead Bay Investment Group, Colony Capital LLC, JRDV Urban International, HKS, Inc., and Forest City Real Estate Services – the people who are trying to create this new version of the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Complex, to a “DDA” or “Disposition And Development Agreement.”

Oakland’s Assistant City Administrator Fred Blackwell explains here:

The DDA basically means a developer has been given the right to build a structure or structures on land that was owned by, in this case, the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda, jointly.

The original partners, JRDV Urban International, HKS, Inc., and Forest City Real Estate Services, formed a master plan that encompasses 800 acres and straddles the I-880, taking up the Oakland Coliseum, and much of the area in what’s called the Airport Area Business Park, today.

In fact, here’s my talk with Ed McFarlane of JRDV Urban International, and after the Oakland City Council vote Tuesday night:

The original ENA was granted in 2012; this City Council meeting was to grant an extension because the original partners needed more fiscal muscle. To that end, the secured the involvement of Bay Investment Group, which is ran by Rahid Al Malik, Chairman and CEO of Hayah Holding, which, the city staff report says, has strong financial ties in the Middle East.

Colony Capital LLC is said to be one of the largest land investors in the World, with holdings totaling $25 billion to date.

As of this writing, the City of Oakland is gathering financial information about all of the parties.

As for City of Oakland expenditures to date, the original ENA called for $1.6 million, which was gotten from Coliseum Bond funds. There’s an additional $250,000 that will be shifted over from the Coliseum Series 2006 B Taxable Fund, which has money it in. I am told that the Coliseum JPA has an additional $3 million that will be contributed to the project.

The Colony Capital LLC Catch

The City Staff report supplemental seems to point to a view that Colony Capital LLC is not officially on board, as the new ENA includes a termination clause if the group can’t secure the involvement of Colony Capital LLC in writing.

That is in addition to completing a comprehensive market study and an environmental impact report, which Fred expect to see done by the Summer of 2014.

Stay tuned.