BEREA, Ohio — The owners of the Browns say they’re 99.9% confident they’ll be able to build a new, enclosed stadium in Brook Park – even though there are still lots of hurdles to jump over.
Jimmy and Dee Haslam talked about the project Tuesday afternoon during a huddle with reporters at the team’s training camp in Berea. They aim to start moving dirt on the Brook Park site this fall, with the goal of holding a groundbreaking early next year.
“This is a complicated project,” said Jimmy Haslam, the chairman of Haslam Sports Group. “There’s stuff going on. It’s three and a half years ‘til the stadium opens, and we will have to work hard every day to get everything to come together.”
The Browns plans to move to Brook Park in 2029, after the team’s lease is up at the existing, city-owned stadium on Cleveland’s lakefront.
They say the new stadium will be a $2.4 billion project, accompanied by $800 million to $1 billion worth of mixed-use development, including two hotels, apartment buildings, restaurants, bars and other retail.
In June, Republican state lawmakers pledged $600 million to the stadium as part of the state’s two-year operating budget. But that’s only half of the public money the Haslams were seeking to help pay for the project.
The rest was supposed to come from local sources – and that part of the deal isn’t done yet.
Watch more on the funding:
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“Now’s the time for this community to really work together to create a tremendous situation here in Brook Park,” Jimmy Haslam said, while declining to get into the details of the team’s current financing plan.
The Browns are still negotiating with Brook Park over a potential deal that would tap admissions taxes, parking taxes and income taxes from the entire 176-acre stadium district to help pay for stadium construction.
“What we said all along is we hoped there was $600 million available locally,” Jimmy Haslam said. “I think, through Brook Park and the mechanisms we put in place, that’s 300. So that leaves you 300 short.”
Haslam Sports Group executives have said they’ll turn to private funding sources, if necessary, to fill gaps. But the Haslams still haven’t given up on bringing Cuyahoga County to the table, despite County Executive Chris Ronayne’s refusal to participate in the project.
“We’re gonna have the groundbreaking regardless,” Jimmy Haslam said. “Let me say this and try to be very respectful of everybody. … We can do the project without the county. I think it’s best if the county and HSG work together, okay? And I won’t say anything more than that.”
The Browns have asked Cuyahoga County to borrow $600 million for the stadium by issuing bonds – debt the county would repay over decades using a mix of tax revenues from Brook Park, a new countywide fee on rental cars and an increase in the bed tax at hotels.
“Maybe it doesn’t work out with the county, but now’s the time to sit down and see if we can’t work together,” Jimmy Haslam said. “This is an important project.”
Ronayne has repeatedly ruled that out, saying the Brook Park project is too risky and has the potential to siphon traffic, spending and events away from Downtown Cleveland.
The Haslams pushed back on that assertion Tuesday, saying there’s room for multiple major development projects in the region – from a reimagined lakefront and a revived Downtown riverfront to a revamped Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, just west of the future stadium site.
“We believe that this could be one of the greatest communities out there,” said Dee Haslam, Haslam Sports Group’s CEO, “but you have to have that vision and you have to have that growth mindset. And we believe that we can take care of our fans and provide economic development by doing the Brook Park project.”
The Haslams wouldn’t go into details about their discussions with public officials.
But it’s clear they’re still looking toward the so-called sin tax – a countywide tax on alcohol and cigarette sales – to help pay for long-term upkeep of the new stadium. Today, that tax pays for repairs at Rocket Arena, Progressive Field and Huntington Bank Field.
State lawmakers included language in the state budget that would allow the Browns to take their share of the money to Brook Park. But current sin-tax revenues already aren’t keeping up with the existing facilities’ needs, and an expansion and extension of the tax would require approval by Cuyahoga County Council and the voters.
Watch more about the state budget decision:
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“If all three teams will work together on the ‘sin tax,’ that could be solved,” Jimmy Haslam said of paying for stadium maintenance.
The Haslams also stopped short of saying whether they’re willing to pay to demolish the existing stadium after the team’s lease there ends in early 2029. Jimmy Haslam said the Browns have made financial offers to Cleveland, but discussions about a possible exit deal were tabled during the debate over the state budget.
“Talks were put on hold,” he said. “Hopefully the talks will pick up again shortly. … Let’s sit down and see what all the needs are, what else we’ll be able to help with, etcetera. I don’t think you can fault our involvement in the community.”
And though Haslam Sports Group and the city are still sparring in state and federal court over the team’s moving plans, Jimmy Haslam believes they can reach a resolution.
“We’re cautiously optimistic we can work things out with the city,” he said.
