Plans for Oakland's RingCentral Coliseum have finally made headway, spearheaded by a local developer group.
Oakland City Council voted on Tuesday to start negotiating exclusively with East Oakland native Ray Bobbitt, former City Manager Robert Bobb and developer Alan Dones from the African American Sports and Entertainment Group to transform the stadium.
"We are humbled and honored to have been chosen by the Oakland City Council to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement for the acquisition and development of the Coliseum site," AASEG said in a Twitter statement. "Our pledge is to continue to always place the community at the forefront of everything that we do!"
Through the vote, Oakland has entered into a deal with AASEG for 18 months during which time the group will pay the city a $200,000-per-year fee and $2.5 million in one-time funds to cover staff time, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A final decision on development plans for the Coliseum is yet to be made, but there are high hopes that AASEG's proposal could fundamentally change East Oakland by providing massive economic opportunity.
Oakland City Council explained that they chose AASEG due to the group's history of community outreach, the newspaper said. Coucilmember Treva Reid encouraged Bobbit, Bobb and Dones to continue working with community members and residents as they reach a final development deal.
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