CLEVELAND — Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb says it's time to move on—from the battle to keep the Browns to an effort to reimagine the lakefront without an NFL team.
He sat down with News 5's Michelle Jarboe for an interview on Friday afternoon, after two weeks of big news.
On Oct. 13, Bibb announced a truce with Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam at Cleveland City Hall.
RELATED: Browns, Cleveland reach $100 million settlement, paving the way for Brook Park stadium move
Now, City Council is considering legislation to approve parts of a proposed $100 million deal that would end a court fight, smooth the path for a Browns' move to Brook Park and ensure Cleveland doesn't end up shouldering the cost of razing the current stadium.
This week, on the heels of that deal, Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne started a formal push to open up a lot more waterfront land - by closing Burke Lakefront Airport. They want Congress to legislate the closure, to avoid a lengthy and uncertain process with the Federal Aviation Administration.
RELATED: Bibb, Ronayne ask Congress members for help closing Burke Lakefront Airport
On Friday, the mayor talked about enlisting the Haslams to advocate for a Burke shutdown—something a Haslam Sports Group spokesman says they're willing to be part of.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michelle Jarboe: I'm curious what kind of feedback you've gotten from people since you and the Haslams announced the settlement deal.
Mayor Justin Bibb: Well, first, I think Council appreciated me coming to the table this past Monday, talking about the contours of the deal, the strengths of the deal, and how we got to this point. I think our administration and my team provided a lot of clarity about the importance of the deal and what it means for taxpayers and the future of our lakefront. I will say, as I've been walking around town the last few weeks, folks are still sad. Folks have amazing memories of the pilgrimage to the lakefront to watch the Browns play football Downtown. But a wide share of Clevelanders that I've talked to really understand why we made the deal that we made. ... I think we also need to pay respect and honor the legacy of the amazing civic leaders and political leaders who fought really hard from 1995 to 1999 to get the Browns back. Folks like former Mayor Michael White and Fred Nance and so many others who were in that fight. They worked really hard. And I know that this transition is gonna be hard for a lot of people. But now it's time to turn the page.
Jarboe: You said to council at one point on Monday that you're willing to take the political hit, if there is one. Do you think there will be a political hit from this?
Bibb: We will know in a few weeks on election day. But we were in a tough position. I did not expect the state to give the Browns $600 million. If you look at the amount of money the state has given all of our pro sports teams across Ohio, it never reached the magnitude of a $600 million investment. When we were working with the county and other leaders, we were trying to get at least $150 million to keep the Browns downtown. I also didn't expect the state legislature to gut the Modell law in (the) middle of night, which undermined our case in the court of law. So the cards were stacked against us. And what I was not going to do was leave a massive, 30-plus million-dollar liability of how we’re gonna tear down a stadium to our taxpayers.
Jarboe: I was there for the whole City Council hearing Monday. Since then, what have you heard from council members?
RELATED: 'Of course I want more.' Cleveland's mayor defends $100 million exit deal with the Browns
Bibb: Some council members really understand why we made the deal that we did. They still want to examine what it means, the pros and cons. Some obviously want more. And as you heard me say at the table, I always want more. If there was $200 million or $300 million or $400 million to get, I would have fought like hell to get it. But we were faced with not getting anything. And I was not gonna accept that. Luckily, we had a great legal team with Jones Day, supported by my law director, Mark Griffin. And we made some compelling arguments in court. But even if we would have won on the breach of the lease contract claim, they could have appealed it in the state supreme court, they could have gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. I did not want to take that risk of outsourcing our destiny to the courts or to the state government, which has not been that friendly to Cleveland on this particular issue. This is a pragmatic deal. It's a smart deal. And allows us to have an immediate cash infusion to begin the next chapter of Cleveland’s story on the lakefront.
Jarboe: So, of the $100 million, you've got the estimate of $30 million for taking down the stadium. I know it could be more, and that the Browns will have to pay for that. You've got the $20 million for community benefits projects, which seems as though that could go to places other than the lakefront. So if we're talking about $50 million for the lakefront, what can that really achieve?
Bibb: A whole lot. It can allow us to close some immediate capital gaps we might have for short-term projects that can start even before the Browns stadium is demolished. It can allow us to do some other public infrastructure projects to begin to accelerate development before 2029. And I think the biggest thing it gives us, and you really can't put a price tag on this, is certainty. Certainty. Certainty. As you know, Michelle, developers want certainty. Now we have that certainty. Now we have millions of dollars to support these additional projects. And we can leverage that money, too, in the financial markets. We're looking at different financial tools and mechanisms to do that.
Jarboe: You talked about the importance of certainty. There's one aspect of the proposed settlement that isn't totally certain. The Browns lease ends in 2029, but they’ll have two one-year options to extend. Why do that?
Bibb: Well, you don't get everything you want in a business deal, right? And you know, if the Browns need another year or two years, we understand that flexibility. And it gives us the additional opportunity to get some more revenue out of those final two years. From my conversations with the Browns, they're not expecting to need that. But we'll have to take that as it comes.
Jarboe: Obviously, that could push back the timeline for redeveloping that site until 2031 or later.
Bibb: It could. But what we've heard thus far from some initial folks who we've talked to as part of our (request for qualifications) process for the initial 50-acre site, there's some things we can do before the Browns leave, which I'm excited to potentially explore.
RELATED: Cleveland seeks developers for 50-acre lakefront site, including Browns stadium
Jarboe: You want to drop any hints about that?
Bibb: Not yet. More to come … later this year.
Jarboe: You’ve been talking about the possibility of closing Burke since you were first running for office. Why act now?
Bibb: We got some initial feedback from (U.S. Transportation) Secretary (Sean) Duffy and our federal delegation that they're open to the idea. So I got to strike while the fire’s hot. And I will say, to the Haslam group’s credit, they've been helpful with some of these conversations with the Trump administration and our federal delegation. That's why the new phase of this partnership is very important to me. I'll work with anybody across the aisle who wants to accelerate my vision for the city, especially when it comes to lakefront development. This is a unique opportunity to really reimagine what 400 acres of prime lakefront real estate can be. Obviously, our near-term focus is executing this first phase of the 50 acres we have to develop right now in the North Coast Harbor, but we're gonna start thinking about what that next phase can look like. And if we have buy-in from our federal delegation to get Congressional approval—which is the fastest way to close an airport—I'm gonna take that meeting and have that conversation.
Jarboe: During the news conference about the proposed settlement, both you and Jimmy Haslam mentioned conversations with Secretary Duffy. What did you talk about with regard to Burke?
Bibb: I have not spoken directly to the secretary yet, but we're going to talk about what's possible and how the FAA and the Department of Transportation can support that vision. It can be a mixed-use development, with amazing public space. It could be a vertiport, where we are leveraging the growth in aerospace and defense. And it could be a jobs hub, right? Who knows. But in this moment where we're competing with cities around the world, we gotta take some big swings, and it's important for us to do everything we can to think outside the box to make Cleveland a globally competitive city.
Jarboe: The word you used there—was it vertiport? I have not heard that before.
Bibb: Yeah. So, you know, we have all this new technology where drones are becoming a part of everyday life and various sciences around aerospace and defense. So there could be an economic development play here that we haven't thought about quite yet.
Jarboe: How, specifically, have the Haslams been helpful with this so far? And how do you expect them to be helpful?
Bibb: Well, they have deeper relationships on the other side of the political aisle, in some cases, with the Trump administration. Where they have deeper relationships in DC and Columbus, we want to work with them. Where I have better relationships with DC and Columbus, they want to work with us, right? And that's what a partnership is all about.
Jarboe: Do you have any sense of how long it could take you to actually close Burke?
Bibb: No idea. But we’re excited to start the process.
RELATED: 'Can we close Burke? We think we can.' Cleveland makes case for airport shutdown
Jarboe: Some people might argue that we have enough to focus on with that first 50 acres – and that this is not a market that can take down another 450. I want to get your thoughts on that.
Bibb: You know, we are sitting in the civic plaza that the famous Chicago architect and planner, Daniel Burnham, built. And he has a quote that I really love. “Make no little plans.” Now is the time to make no little plans in Cleveland. We've been petering and petering and petering for generations. Now it's time for us to make big plans, be bold and take big swings. And that’s what we’re doing right now.
Jarboe: Pivoting from Burke to Hopkins, with regard to the settlement. Your own airport director made some public statements saying the proposed Stadium in Brook Park will permanently and negatively impact Hopkins. How do you pull back from that and assure the traveling public that they're going to be safe?
Bibb: I can guarantee you that as HSG embarks on this domed stadium in Brook Park, and as we embark on our nearly $2 billion modernization of our airport, we are gonna move heaven and earth to make sure that the traveler experience is not undermined and that it's a safe, reliable airport. That's why this partnership is very important. For us to work out what those material challenges may or may not be, and how do we come up with some collaborative solutions. And we're gonna work with ODOT and the FAA to do just that, as well.
Jarboe: Some people have said, "Oh, well, was that all just posturing?"
Bibb: Well, we just struck a $100 million deal. I think both parties understood that cooler heads prevailed, and it was time to work together to solve some of these issues that we've been talking about in court.
Jarboe: The Browns still need to work out their deal with Brook Park. There are still a lot of questions here. What happens if they get down the road with this and realize that it’s not feasible?
Bibb: As I told Jimmy and Dee Haslam, we're still here with open arms. They're pretty confident that they're gonna be able to get shovels in the ground quick and get that stadium open by 2029. I know they're already moving dirt. But if things blow up and they can't play football in Brook Park, we're ready to partner with them and keep them playing football Downtown.
Jarboe: Another topic that came up at the council table on Monday is the question about investments in the lakefront versus investments in other parts of the city – or other priorities, because we clearly have so many needs. Why is the lakefront so important?
Bibb: The lakefront is an asset for everybody. This is not just about downtown or the wealthy or the elite. This is about having a world-class asset that everybody in our city and our region can enjoy. Think about Chicago. Everybody in Chicago enjoys their lakefront. You think about what Boston has done with their seaport, or what Seattle has embarked on. World-class cities have world-class lakefronts. This is about jobs. This is about economic investment. This is about growing our population, and as the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats. We can walk and chew gum in this town. Alongside city council, we are putting our people and neighborhoods first. We have historic investments in our small businesses. We have historic investments in affordable and workforce housing, and so we are doing everything we can to move the city forward. It's time for Cleveland to continue to think big and think boldly about our future.
Jarboe: In this whole dance with the Browns, if you could go back and do anything differently, is there anything you would have done differently?
Bibb: I probably would have contemplated a bigger, more outsized role for the state. You know, historically, the state legislature and the governor have really never undermined the mayor or the county executive or county leadership on an investment decision like this. And they did. I didn't anticipate that. Don't know how I could have predicted or prevented that, but that caught me by surprise.
Jarboe: Do you think there's anything more you could have done to keep them?
Bibb: No. We did everything we could.
