CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns clearly favor building a domed stadium in Brook Park, on a site surrounded by new development, over renovating their existing stadium Downtown.
But it’s not a done deal.
The Browns released a video showing what the stadium could look like. Watch below:
In a letter to season ticket holders Wednesday, the Browns released the first images and video of their suburban proposal. They outlined what they see as a “transformational” opportunity to create a destination near Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
“While significant work remains, the more we have explored the Brook Park option, the more attractive it has become,” David Jenkins, the chief operating officer of the Browns and Haslam Sports Group, wrote in the letter.
The message to fans comes less than a week after Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb put a public offer on the table to keep the Browns on the Downtown lakefront. The city offered $461 million in financing for a potential $1 billion overhaul of the existing stadium, where the team’s current lease ends after the 2028 season.
The Browns have been weighing that renovation against new construction in Brook Park, on a former automotive plant site off Snow Road. That ground-up stadium would cost $2.4 billion, a price tag owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam are looking to split with taxpayers.
“With Mayor Bibb releasing the city’s latest proposal for a renovated stadium last week and the increased community dialogue around our stadium future … we feel it is the appropriate time for us to communicate directly and share an update,” Jenkins wrote.
He said the existing stadium, which opened in 1999, would need significant updates to become “a state-of-the-art facility that makes Cleveland proud.” It’s not feasible to put a dome on the building because of high costs and height restrictions imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration due to the stadium's proximity to Burke Lakefront Airport.
The Brook Park site, at 176 acres, has enough room for a new stadium, partially sunk into the ground, and a mixed-use entertainment district with thousands of parking spaces. In his letter, Jenkins said the property is also appealing because of its location, not far from downtown and right across the freeway from the airport and a Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority train line.
“Our diligence of the site is ongoing,” Jenkins wrote, “but our work to date has shown positive results on the FAA, environmental and traffic/infrastructure fronts.”
Renderings show a stadium recessed roughly 80 feet into the ground and designed to accommodate year-round events. The surrounding development could include offices, a hotel, retail and entertainment – private projects that would cost more than $1 billion to build.
The Browns also mentioned housing. But public records show that deed restrictions placed on the land by Ford Motor Co., which sold the property to a group of industrial real estate developers in 2021, currently prohibit residential development.
Haslam Sports Group has a purchase option on the land but has not bought it yet.
In his letter, Jenkins did not say when the Browns will make a decision. But the team is facing a tight timeline. A new stadium would take about three years to build, and it would need to be ready for the 2029 season.
The team, which has been exploring its options since 2017, looked at many sites before narrowing its focus to Brook Park and the Downtown lakefront.
In both scenarios, the Browns are looking to split the bill with taxpayers.
In Cleveland, the Bibb administration is offering admission-tax revenues, Cuyahoga County sin-tax revenues (from sales of cigarettes and alcohol), and existing capital reserves for the stadium. The city also says it will give the Browns exclusive rights to use the Willard Park Garage at City Hall and the Muni Lot parking lot for game days and events – earmarking parking revenues for stadium upgrades.
Bibb also offered to eliminate rent payments for the city-owned stadium. The team would have to pick up insurance costs and property-tax payments, though.
The city says that deal structure would put most of the price of the stadium revamp on fans, without cutting into Cleveland’s ability to pay for basic services for residents.
The Browns have not released a detailed financing plan for the Brook Park proposal. But they’re focused on new funding streams – tax revenues created, for the most part, by the development in Brook Park – to cover the public tab.
“We are not looking to tap into existing taxpayer-funded streams, which could divert resources from other pressing needs,” Jenkins wrote. “We are instead working on innovative funding mechanisms with local, county and state officials that would leverage the fiscal impact of the project … and generate a substantial return for Brook Park, Cuyahoga County and the state of Ohio.”
It’s still unclear how much of an appetite state legislators and local public officials have for investing in a new stadium. The types of funding the Browns are talking about are unlikely to require a public vote, but they would need approvals from lawmakers.
Brook Park Mayor Edward Orcutt said he's still evaluating the proposal and looking at the impact a stadium development might have on the suburb of roughly 18,000 people.
"My goal is to ensure that any agreement made will benefit the city of Brook Park and not pose a negative effect financially," Orcutt wrote in a text message. "I look forward to the possibility of collaborating with the Haslam Sports Group on ways to better the city of Brook Park and the surrounding region."
The Bibb administration hasn't responded publicly yet to the renderings or the team's message to fans. But last week, Cleveland's mayor said he still believes the lakefront is the best deal for the Browns - and the region.
In his letter to the Haslams, Bibb referenced a "state-of-the-art modernization" plan that the team presented to the city. The Browns have not released comparable renderings of a renovated Downtown stadium, though.
"The Browns' presence at its current site is crucial to many downtown businesses and jobs. ... We hope you choose to continue with the success we are experiencing on our waterfronts - preservation over new construction - and support Cleveland and Cuyahoga County's best interests," Bibb wrote in the letter.
He asked the Haslams to respond to the city's financing offer by Aug. 12.
In his letter to fans, Jenkins said the Browns are still evaluating the city's proposal and have asked for more information.
"We acknowledge that a move to Brook Park may have a near-term impact on Downtown," Jenkins wrote, "but we believe that the year-round activity of a domed stadium can still positively impact the Downtown economy, particularly when coupled with the possibilities of a reimagined lakefront absent the stadium."
Bibb administration officials have said they're committed to redeveloping the lakefront with or without the Browns. That includes reconfiguring the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway as it cuts through Downtown and building a wide land bridge between Mall C, next to City Hall, and the pitted parking lots just north of the existing stadium.
News 5 reporter Nadeen Abusada contributed to this story.
