Keker Team Wins Arbitration, Forcing Warriors to Pay for Oracle Arena Renovations
An arbitrator found that the Bay Area's NBA team, which is set to decamp from Oakland to new digs in San Francisco next season, must continue to pay debts incurred in the mid-90s to renovate its current home, Oracle Arena.
October 29, 2018 at 05:55 PM
2 minute read
Oracle Arena in Oakland, home of the Golden State Warriors.
The Golden State Warriors can't win 'em all.
An arbitrator sided against the Bay Area NBA team in its dispute with the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda over debt incurred to renovate Oracle Arena, the team's current home in Oakland.
With the team set to move across the Bay for new digs in San Francisco next season, the team and its landlords at the Oakland-Alameda County Stadium Authority had clashed on the meaning of language in the team's lease agreement to occupy Oracle, which was originally signed in 1996. The Warriors had argued the team wasn't obligated to pay any debt remaining once the team decamps to San Francisco next year, while the Coliseum authority, represented by a team at Keker, Van Nest & Peters, argued that the team owed the full price of the renovation bill, an amount the municipalities pegged at about $55 million.
On Monday, following a three-day hearing in July and closing arguments in September, JAMS arbitrator Rebecca Westerfield found that the team is financially responsible for payments on the debt incurred during the renovations.
The Keker, Van Nest & Peters team representing the Coliseum Authority in its arbitration with the Warriors included Daniel Purcell, Leah Pransky, and Eduardo Santacana.
Purcell said in a brief phone interview Monday afternoon that the case seemed like an attempt by the Warriors' current ownership group, which bought the team while the current lease was pending, to “rewrite” the terms of a “clear” and “fair” deal. Purcell said his clients were grateful the arbitrator saw the case their way. “They're formidable on the basketball court,” said Purcell of the Warriors. “It can be a little bit harder to overwhelm an adversary that is well informed in a court of law.”
A representative of the team told San Jose Mercury News that the team disagreed with the decision. “Of course we are reviewing our options at this time, but as we've always said, we will fulfill any debt obligations that we owe,” the team representative said. The team was represented by counsel at Morrison & Foerster including James Bennett and Joshua Hill Jr.
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