Oakland has changed its plan to sell the Coliseum yet again. Here’s how it will work.

OAKLAND — The city will once again revise its sale of the Oakland Coliseum complex, transferring ownership of the East Bay’s most notable property to a development group that will no longer need to pay for all of it right away.

City leaders, who have faced criticism for the Coliseum sale’s numerous delays, went to great lengths Monday to emphasize that the restructured deal will cost the city no taxpayer money, even though in real-estate terms it could be characterized as a loan.

Under new terms, the buyers would effectively mortgage their purchase of the city’s 50% ownership share over up to nearly eight years, accepting the threat of penalties — including possible foreclosure — if they default on future payments.

The restructured deal marks a shift from the most recent iteration of the sale agreement, in which the city had expected to be paid upfront by the Oakland Acquisition Company for the bulk of an acquisition that totals about $125 million.

The company — a large coalition backed by the investment firm Loop Capital that includes the locally based African American Sports and Entertainment Group — will now pivot into what is known as a seller-financed model, raising fresh questions about its ability to finance the ambitious redevelopment.

It is another twist in what has been a convoluted sale of the Coliseum complex, which includes the stadium, arena and space in between. OAC is in similar discussions to acquire the other 50% share of the 112-acre site, which is owned by Alameda County. The city’s new plan aligns OAC’s payment schedule closely with the county’s own term sheet.

Both the city and county’s deals now include a hitch: The buyers plan to immediately flip the arena as a separate parcel to the Oak View Group, a third party led by music-industry mogul Irving Azoff that has offered to buy the facility for north of $100 million. OAC would continue to own the stadium and surrounding parking lots.

The city and county each expect to receive $50 million from the arena sale after Jan. 30, 2027, the new date by which OAC would close escrow on the entire complex.

“My word is my bond on this,” Azoff said Monday at a news conference announcing the revised terms. He promised $40 million worth of privately funded renovations to the arena’s roof, elevators and backstage area, vowing to improve its concerts from a “B” grade to an “A-plus.”

OAC has not been specific about its vision for the Coliseum complex, though the deal still requires it to list a quarter of all housing developments at affordable rates. Co-founder Ray Bobbitt, a local face of the project, has floated the idea of razing the former A’s ballpark and replacing it with a smaller stadium, plus a hotel, retail storefronts and nightlife venues, in addition to housing. The group still needs to work out labor and community benefits agreements with city officials.

The city will collect 5% annual interest on OAC’s future payments, the first of which would be expected five years after closing or when the group obtains formal city approval for its redevelopment plans, whichever comes earlier. The next two payments would be owed in each subsequent year.

Six percent of all future ticket sales at the arena or any stadium venue on the grounds would go to the city, which would also — upon close of escrow — no longer pick up a roughly $6 million yearly tab on operating costs. The Oakland City Council does not plan to direct revenues from the sale into its operating budget, as previous leaders had once planned to do. Instead, the money will relieve longstanding pension debt.

If OAC never pays, then the city can simply seize ownership of the property and wind up back where it started, officials said.

“We are inept when it comes to negotiating deals,” Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, who serves as the body’s president, said at Monday’s conference. “But I truly feel like we won this deal — sorry, Mr. Azoff.”

Councilmember Ken Houston recalled ironing out a “handshake deal” with Azoff over bowls of soup in Beverly Hills. “We turned lemons into good lemonade,” Houston said of the city’s new terms.

For some experts, however, the restructured deal does not inspire faith in OAC’s financial capacities, given that Loop Capital has until now paid the city only $5 million while placing another $10 million in escrow.

Victor Matheson, a sports economist at Holy Cross University who has written extensively about stadium sales, said the city appeared to be acting reasonably. But he questioned the buyers’ side of the deal.

“If they have this big plan that everyone thinks is going to make gobs of money, there should be lenders falling over themselves trying to help finance the Coliseum’s redevelopment,” said Matheson in an interview.

“The fact that they need the city’s help on this is not wildly encouraging,” Matheson added.

Others disagreed with Matheson’s assertion, contending that the Coliseum sale’s complications simply reflect the troubled economics behind developing the kind of sports-and-entertainment multiplex that OAC envisions.

“The underwriters are looking at, ‘What is the draw? What brings people to the hotel?’” said Andrea Austin, a Denver-based attorney with extensive legal experience around professional sports developments.

Austin, who previously helped represent Oakland in its doomed negotiations with the A’s for a waterfront ballpark-and-housing development, said that “without an anchor tenant, I don’t think there’s much lender interest in a mixed-use development adjacent to a sports venue.”

Still, city officials on Monday expressed optimism that the Coliseum complex — which once hosted the Warriors, Raiders and A’s — has a fresh chapter ahead.

“My bottom line is, we look at these deals as a good investment for Oaklanders,” Mayor Barbara Lee, who before Monday had scarcely commented publicly on the Coliseum sale, said at Monday’s news conference. “It’s a deal that will bring in city revenues, create good-paying jobs and drive real economic opportunities for our residents.”

Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at [email protected].