Coliseum City boss: Odds on a deal to keep Raiders in Oakland improve

If Floyd Kephart laid a bet on his chances to actually move Coliseum City plans forward, he'd give himself better odds today than he did six weeks ago.

That's when the chairman of the San-Diego based Renaissance Cos. swooped in to land exclusive negotiating rights to hammer out a development and financing plan for the $2 billion-plus mix of retail, residential, hospitality and sports facilities for up to three professional teams.

"We're probably between 60 and 70 percent there. We need to get well into the 90 (percentile) to make this work," Kephart told the San Francisco Business Times on Friday. "I'm much more optimistic about the project than I was six weeks ago."

That doesn't mean the ambitious vision of Coliseum City will become a reality, but Kephart sees positive signs as he hits the midpoint of his three-month negotiating window with the city. By Jan. 21, Kephart's New City Ventures LLC has to submit a contracting plan and investment plan for the project's initial construction, or try to get a final three-month extension.

At a Business Times event on Oakland real estate and development, Kephart said he hit all the negotiations' early benchmarks for the first time in the project's history. Those include starting negotiations with the city, the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Athletics, and putting up $5 million of pre-development costs.

Without sealing up at least one of Oakland's three teams, however, the work is likely all for naught. Raiders owner Mark Davis said last month that he is committed to making plans to stay in Oakland work. Kephart said he is meeting twice a week with Raiders officials.

Cory covers real estate and economic development.