Oakland Coliseum Sale to AASEG: A Model for Community Development and Inclusion
By Conway Jones
The Oakland City Council approved legislation to authorize the City Administrator to enter into a Purchase and Sale Agreement with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) for the sale of the City of Oakland’s half of the Coliseum site. Seven councilmembers voted “Yes.” District 5 City Councilmember Noel Gallo abstained.
AASEG will purchase Oakland’s share of the Coliseum property for a minimum of $105 million.
The Oakland A’s, who are playing their last season at the stadium before temporarily relocating to Sacramento, are buying the other half of the property.
“AASEG is clearly one of the positive things happening right now, and Oaklanders from the flatlands to the hills should be uniting to make sure that this fact gets celebrated,” said AASEG Founder Ray Bobbitt.
Oakland residents and city leaders said they are pleased that AASEG is an Oakland-based development group, believing that the development group knows Oakland best and will preserve its vision.
Jonathan Jones, finance chairperson of AASEG who just returned from doing work in Ghana for two months said, “It is important to build the community by the community.”
AASEG is committed to engaging with East Oakland residents to develop a strong community benefits agreement. This agreement will be a model for community development and inclusion.
“This historic decision finally delivers on those promises by empowering the East Oakland natives and Black developers at AASEG who are dedicated to their community’s health and well-being to develop the site.” said Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.
