Oakland council votes to sell Raiders training facility, now it's up to supes

Oakland approves sale of former Raiders training facility

The Oakland City Council approved the sale of the former Raiders training facility in Alameda for $24 million.

OAKLAND, Calif. - After years of trying to find the right buyer for the former Oakland Raiders headquarters and training facility northwest of the Oakland International Airport, the Oakland City Council gave its final nod Tuesday to a $24 million sale.

The property is jointly owned by Alameda County and the City of Oakland, so the sale must still be approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Board president Supervisor Nate Miley declined to comment through a spokesperson. The item will be considered in a closed session at a meeting as soon as Tuesday, but was not yet placed on the agenda as of Wednesday evening.

The Oakland City Council approved the sale of its share of the nearly 17-acre training facility to the real estate holding company Prologis L.P., which will lease the facilities to the professional soccer teams the Oakland Roots and the Oakland Soul.

The teams are owned by Oakland Pro Soccer LLC and have been using the facility since late 2021.

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said in a statement after the sale that she was thrilled to support the teams and have the city play a role in the 2026 World Cup by hosting a team at the training facility.

"This transaction will generate much-needed revenue for the City while relieving us of significant holding and maintenance costs," Kaplan said.

"It will allow us to support the growth of jobs, revenue, and community engagement with soccer - the fastest-growing sport in the world. I look forward to seeing the positive impact that this sale will have on our community," she said.

The city alone paid $387,850 in maintenance costs 2023 and another nearly $277,000 in property taxes, according to the report from city staff.

The property includes two parcels at 1150 and 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway in the city of Alameda. It consists of a two-story, roughly 100,600 square-foot office building situated on about 5.5 acres, and another 18,200 square-foot building and large fields on another roughly 11.4 acres.

The county had sought buyers in 2022 for bids starting at $35 million, but none materialized. A public auction scheduled for last July was canceled after no bids were received by the county's deadline.

The property was first purchased in 1995 by the Raiders with a $10 million loan from the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Financing Corporation, which was an incentive for the team moving back to the area from Los Angeles. As part of the loan, the team was required to relinquish ownership to the city and county when it vacated the Oakland Coliseum in 2020 before moving to Las Vegas.

Another offer from STEAM Factory could have generated an additional net $374,000 for the city, but the analysis from Sofia Navarro, the Interim Director of the Economic and Workforce Development Department, said it would be contingent on STEAM securing financing, which introduced more risk to the bid.

A third bid, from Overton-Moore, would have generated less for the city and still be contingent upon securing financing.

The Oakland Roots play in the United Soccer League, which describes itself as the largest professional soccer league in North America. It is sanctioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation and Canadian Soccer Association.

The Soul plays in the United Soccer League's pre-professional women's league, which is described as a developmental path to professional women's teams.

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