Oakland

Egbert Perry, Ronnie Lott, Mayor Libby Schaaf, The Oakland Raiders NFL Coliseum Stadium Deal To Date

Published

9 years ago

September 21, 2016

Oakland Raiders Stadium News Update here.

Egbert Perry, the Fannie Mae Board Member and Chairman and CEO of The Integral Group, a real estate development organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, and his business associate Sorina Givelichian of Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC, may have learned a little something about trying to punk an NFL Hall of Famer: Ronnie Lott. Especially one that has an signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Oakland and The County of Alameda to develop the Coliseum property and a stadium for the Oakland Raiders.Perhaps Mr. Perry’s association with Ms. Givelichian and with a wonderfully colorful set of hedge fund managers caused him to think he could pull a fast one, as one of my sources seems to believe.

For reasons that I’m not able to completely pin down at this time, a letter of intent sent directly to me via an Oakland Raiders fan, and that contains an offer to buy the Oakland Coliseum Stadium and the land (but not Oracle Arena), from a group that does not include Ronnie Lott (so reports that there are “ties” to Lott, or “led by Ronnie Lott” as if this move was done on his behalf, aren’t correct), but has the following: Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC, which, according to the letter, is owned and controlled by Legacy Investment Partners LLC, which is owned by New York-based Park South Capital LLC.

In turn, those entities are managed by Investment Banker Sorina Givelichian, who’s Linkedin has her listed as “Director, Institutional Solutions at Russell Investment Group” of Toronto, Canada. Ms. Givelichian looks for every bit like a cross between a Bond Girl and “Max”, the character played by Vanessa Redgrave in Tom Cruise’ Mission Impossible.

Moreover, Sorina Givelichian’s Twitter account @sgivelichian is protected, which means she doesn’t want you to see what she’s tweeting about. My guess is it has something to do with the newly hatched work she and Perry are doing in trying to acquire sports and entertainment-related properties. Like in Arizona.

The same Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC sent a similar letter of intent to the Maricopa County Stadium District over one month ago, August 11th. In that case, they offered $60 million for Chase Field Stadium. That letter contains an intent to “raise its offer to match appraised value” – something to note and which could apply to the Oakland Coliseum Land Offer by the same Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC.

The difference between the two Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC deal proposals is that the Oakland one is centered around a proposed price of $167,360,000 – and which they say is a price that can defease “the current bond obligation” of $165,360,000. That refers to the remaining payments that are split between the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda from the original “Raiders Deal” that altered the Oakland Coliseum to accommodate the needs of both the Silver and Black and the perennial tenants the Oakland Athletics, but was not made to a state-of-the-art stadium standard at that time.

(And explains the reason for a number of stadium maintenance and facility design adjustment needs that were noted on a so-called ‘punch list’ made in 1997 by Ezra Rapport, then Oakland’s Assistant City Manager, and the architect of the original “Raiders Deal”.)

Thus, two things are clear: the offering price by Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC was only given to help deal with the bond debt remaining, and was not based on an assumption of land value, however, it’s quite clear Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC is capable of offering more money to the City of Oakland and The County of Alameda.

But it’s also clear that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is not ready to deal with Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC at this time (maybe later).

Mayor Schaaf called while I was writing this post to say the following:

“Its my understanding that Egbert Perry and Ronnie Lott both know each other and are friendly,” she said, “The only people that formally represent the Lott Group are Lott and Rodney Peete to my understanding.”

Schaaf continued “We aren’t considering it for recommendation at this time because we want an agreement with the NFL. I am committed to keeping the Raiders and The League at the center of the deal. We can’t give up our right to control the destiny of what happens to that land (at the Coliseum). A new stadium that keeps the Raiders in Oakland, but is responsible to the team, the league and the taxpayer – and enhances economic vitality around the Coliseum and delivers community benefits.”

NFL Executive Vice President for Business Affairs Eric Grubman visited Oakland and not just for the Raiders game against the visiting Atlanta Falcons. On Grubman’s visit, she said “I appreciated Eric joining me for meetings with business leaders, and supporting my effort to keep the Raiders in Oakland. Everyone has a part to play in maintaining this community asset.”

And while we were talking, I asked Mayor Schaaf about the news that Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval said he was going to call a special session of the Nevada Legislature to vote on the recommendations of the Southern Nevada Tourism and Infrastructure Committee, including the $750 million for developing an NFL-ready stadium for the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Libby said the following: “I take the Las Vegas threat very seriously. I remain convinced that Oakland is a stronger market for the NFL than Las Vegas will ever be. And in spite of the threat, I remain committed to my approach regarding public funds.”

So, in closing, while Stadium Real Estate Partners LLC’s proposal may not be right at this time, it’s a signal that there are players with a lot of money they control involved in the Coliseum City deal. Mr. Lott has not been ‘pushed out’ of this at all, and has his MOU as his dance card.

But the beauty of the MOU approach that Mayor Schaaf called for is that the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda can talk to and bring in well-healed investors capable of executing a privately-financed deal for a new stadium for the Oakland Raiders, all the while keeping Lott at the center of the action.

Not bad.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

5 days ago

May 25, 2025

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.

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Alameda County

Oakland Begins Month-Long Closure on Largest Homeless Encampment

At 8 a.m. sharp, city workers began piling up trash and dismantling makeshift homes along the nearly five-block encampment. City crews blocked off streets from 14th Ave to 17th Ave, between E. 12th and International Blvd, due to the Safe Work Zone Ordinance that was passed by the city council in 2022 to protect workers from harassment during cleanings, according to a city spokesperson.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

The City of Oakland began sweeping their largest homeless encampment on E 12th St. Monday morning. Advocates claim that the city has not done its due diligence with providing ample resources or outreach for residents at the encampment. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland began a three-week-long breakdown of the largest homeless encampment in the city on E. 12th Street on Monday morning. Residents and advocates said they are devastated about the displacement of dozens of people.

Jaz Colibri, one of the many advocates at the closure, said the encampment sweeps were “intense and terrifying” to witness. They claimed that several residents, many of them non-English speakers, had not been aware that the sweep was happening that day because of a lack of proper communication and outreach from Oakland.

Colibri added that the city had done a Census “many months ago” and “had not bothered to count people since then”, meaning dozens of individuals have missed out on housing and resources in the last few weeks because the city doesn’t offer outreach in multiple languages.

“Basically, [Oakland] dropped the ball on actually getting to know everybody who lives here and then creating a housing solution that meets everyone’s needs,” Colibri said.

City spokesperson Jean Walsh told the Post that notices of the closure operation were posted in Spanish and Chinese prior to Monday, but did not clarify if outreach was done in those languages as well.

Nearly a dozen Oakland police vehicles, California Highway Patrol officers, and Oakland Public Works staff were gathered along E 12th waiting for residents to pack up their belongings and move away from the area.

Advocates said residents “felt unsafe” due to the hefty law enforcement presence.

One city worker, who was picking up debris near 16th Ave, said, “They’ve known we were coming for a long time now” in reference to resident confusion about the sweeping.

The state doubled down on its requirement to get cities and counties to deal with their homelessness crisis at a press conference Monday afternoon. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office released a “model ordinance” that is intended to provide a starting point that local municipalities can use to build from and adjust in creating their own policies on encampments, if they haven’t done so yet.

Newsom said “No more excuses, time to deliver” after the state has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into solving the issue.

Oakland was awarded a $7.2 million grant from the state in 2024 to close long-standing encampments in the city, including camps at Martin Luther King, Jr. and 23rd Street, and Mosswood Park.

Residents at these encampments were offered wraparound supportive services, temporary shelter, and eventually will be transitioned to permanent supportive housing, according to a city statement from last year.

Residents who accepted housing at these three encampments were moved into newly acquired property, formerly the Extended Stay America Hotel in West Oakland, which will first serve as interim housing for up to 150 individuals and couples in 105 units, and in the coming year, will be converted into 125 units of permanent housing.

Walsh said as of May 2, “32 residents of the recently closed Mosswood Park encampment moved into the Mandela House program” and as of May 12, “41 residents of the East 12th Street encampment have already accepted offers to move to the Mandela House.” The city will provide final numbers of how many accepted and moved into housing after the closure operation is over.