Oakland buys land near Coli for grocery store

The latest attempt to improve things in the enormous Coliseum Redevelopment zone comes courtesy of City itself. CEDA is buying 6.3 acres for a cool $7.7 million - chump change as far as urban Bay Area real estate is concerned. The land will apparently hold a new grocery store, as Oakland is brokering a deal with an unnamed retailer. I'm guessing it's Lucky/Save Mart as the Safeway-owned Pak'n Save is on Hegenberger.

The site appears to be immediately south of the AC Transit bus yard. AC Transit is involved in the deal, which may point to an expansion of the yard along with adjacent development. For those who may look to patronize the store prior to entering the Coliseum, it's 1/4 mile north of the BART station, much closer than the aforementioned Pak'n Save.

The price of the land is what piqued my curiosity. At $1.2 million per acre, that's within spitting distance of the $1 million per acre that Lew Wolff was offering for Coliseum North land. Perhaps the price would not have been so low three years ago. Still, it's interesting.