Historic NFL team’s $2.4bn stadium plans dealt major blow as ‘ambush’ threatens move to new location
Cleveland is not giving up their fight to keep hold of the Browns.
The storied NFL franchise has big plans for their future, and part of the Cleveland Browns' vision is to move away from Huntington Bank Field and out into the more suburban area of Brook Park.
On the 176-acre site that the Haslam Sports Group purchased for $76 million, the Browns want to build a brand new $2.4 billion domed stadium.
But they have already faced their fair share of pushback, and now they are involved in further litigation with the city, who are asking for the court to make the decision over whether the Browns are allowed to start planning the move to Brook Park before their current lease at Huntington Bank Field expires.
City deals Browns' stadium plans another major blow
With their lease not expiring until 2028, the Browns organization is arguing that the city's efforts to get such a quick ruling is wholly unfair, calling this tactic as an attempted "ambush."
In a court filing from the team's attorney Anthony White, per Adam Ferrise of Cleveland.com, they cite the argument from the city that the Browns can't make future plans while under contract with their current stadium "preposterous."
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“The lease nowhere says that the Browns are barred for 30 years from considering alternative playing arrangements after the 30 years have come and gone,” White wrote on behalf of the team.
“The Browns are confident that the evidence will show that the lease was designed to keep the Browns at Huntington Bank Field for 30 years, not to hold the team hostage forever.”
Essentially, what this means is that if the court sides in favor of the city, then the Browns' current lease with Huntington Bank Field would prevent them from undertaking any work at Brook Park until it expires.
Thus, this would push back the opening of the new stadium by several years, and to add insult to injury, they would also have to agree to a new, short-term extension in their current location of downtown Cleveland until Brook Park is built and ready to open for business.
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Setback after setback
But the litigation between the city of Cleveland and the Browns isn't the only dispute that the Haslam Sports Group is currently involved in.
Back in August, it was announced that the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) had rejected their proposed building permit, amid them not adhering to the height regulations.
With the Brook Park land being in close proximity of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, there is a height restriction imposed on any building developments within a certain zone, and the Browns' stadium plans exceeded the maximum height allowed by almost 60 feet.
As such, the Brook Park City Council voted to rezone this site, allowing the Browns to push on forward with their development.
After this decision went in their favor, Haslam Sports Group President Dave Jenkins announced the Browns' imminent plans.
“The plan is to start moving dirt this fall, with more of a ceremonial groundbreaking this spring,” he said back at the end of August.
This lines up with the team's current target of moving dirt before the end of 2025 as to open their domed stadium - fit to host a future Super Bowl - in 2029.
It was also announced on Monday that on the proposed 176-acre site in Brook Park, the team's development partner is looking to construct a music venue and event center, expected to hold a capacity of between 3,000-4,000 people.
“Our plan is to deliver a music venue. Our plan is to deliver a hotel,” Lincoln Property Company executive vice president, Peter Kelly, told a crowd at an event center off Brookpark Road, via News 5 Cleveland.
“It’s airport-adjacent. We have 10 million visitors coming through that airport every year. … So we want to improve the front door, so it’s the first thing you see and the last thing you see on your flights out.”
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But with the city's new lawsuit against them, these plans for the sports and entertainment complex - and subsequently their timelines for construction and building - has now been thrown into huge jeopardy.
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