The city of Oakland and Alameda County are struggling to find a buyer for the former Oakland Raiders headquarters and training facility in the East Bay, a potential consequence of the area's development and leasing climate.

An auction earlier this summer opened bidding at nearly $36M, according to The Mercury News, but no bidders came forward.

The property sits on 16 acres on Alameda’s Bay Farm Island. Although the city of Oakland and Alameda County officials told The Mercury News they are “discussing next steps,” they didn't offer specifics. The Mercury News also reported that local government officials were counting on proceeds from the sale to shore up their budgets for next year.

Despite the auction seeing no bidders come forward, there have been around 30 bidders that have shown interest, NAI NorCal investment advisor Rolando Reyes told Bisnow. The real estate market in the area isn't helping.

“Feedback from developers is that getting projects financed during this economic cycle is a challenge,” Reyes said.

The site is zoned for commercial manufacturing or light industrial uses. But it is also in the Harbor Bay neighborhood, which has become a hub for life sciences development. A life sciences conversion could make sense for the property, Reyes said.

Another option is residential conversion.

“It would be a very difficult proposition to get your money back if you bought it and leased it out,” Spencer Hsu, a Bay Area real estate agent, told The Mercury News. “The fact is, if they can’t sell as commercial, they should really explore the opportunity to do so as residential.”

The East Bay has seen a sports exodus in the past few years. It started with the Golden State Warriors moving from Oracle Arena in Oakland to the newly built Chase Center in San Francisco in 2019. The Raiders moved a few years later to Las Vegas. Most recently, The A’s have shifted their focus to building a new ballpark in Las Vegas.

The A’s leaving not only took away Oakland's last sports team but also a major development project aimed at transforming Oakland’s waterfront. If the A’s had stayed in Oakland, they would have built a new ballpark. The city was working with the baseball team on a large mixed-use project at Howard Terminal, located at the Port of Oakland.