CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Haslam Sports Group doubled down Thursday on its plans to build a new stadium in Brook Park, telling Cuyahoga Executive Chris Ronayne that his opposition is “inexplicable” and promising to build the stadium with or with the county’s support.
A Browns spokesman said the letter was being delivered to Ronayne Thursday afternoon. It comes two days after the team brought NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell into Ohio to lobby Gov. Mike DeWine and leaders in the Ohio legislature for the state’s investment.
Both the Browns and Goodell said they received a positive response in Columbus, where the Ohio Senate is mulling House-approved legislation to provide $600 million for the project.
“It is truly disheartening to see you, as county executive, actively work against a potential $600 million investment from the state that would be paired with $2 billion-plus in private investment for an unprecedented $3 billion-plus economic development project centrally located in Cuyahoga County,” Dave Jenkins, chief operating officer of the Haslam Sports Group and the Browns, wrote in his letter to Ronayne.
“These are the types of inexplicable decisions that keep the Greater Cleveland region from thriving, while other regions like Columbus and Cincinnati continue to grow and evolve.”
The Browns, for months, have been asking the county to borrow $600 million for the project, to be repaid under the Browns’ plan mostly by taxes generated at the site, in combination with a one percentage point increase in the county’s tax on hotel stays and a new rental car fee.
The county portion is part of a team plan that also calls for $600 million from the state and $1.2 billion from the Browns for the $2.4 billion Brook Park stadium. Additionally, the Browns have promised up to $1 billion in private investment eventually for retail, hotels and housing adjacent to the stadium.
Ronayne, however, has stood in strong opposition, saying such a move would hurt downtown Cleveland’s tourism business that the county and city have worked hard to build.
Ronayne recently asked the state Senate to instead provide $350 million for renovating the existing city-owned stadium. That request was later joined by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb.
Jenkins’ letter on Thursday - using 10 bullet points - told Ronayne why the team believes renovating the existing stadium is shortsighted and why an enclosed stadium in Brook Park represented the biggest benefit regionally. Among those points:
Renovating the stadium would be just a short-term fix at a cost of more than $1 billion.
The Brook Park plan relies on no money from the city of Cleveland.
And if the county participated, it would be part of the process to determine “the best use of hundreds of millions in excess project tax revenues.”
“To further clear up misinformation, while we have not given up on our elusive goal of local unity, and the upside for the public is far greater with the county’s partnership,” Jenkins wrote, “we remain undeterred and are not relying on the county’s participation to execute this project.”
The letter did not explain how the Browns intend to fill in the $600 million gap, if the county doesn’t invest. But a spokesman told cleveland.com that the alternative plan would be a combination of borrowing by the city of Brook Park and the team.
This is at least the second time the team has said it would make a go of the project, if necessary, without the county. Owner Jimmy Haslam said during the owners’ meetings in Florida in late March that “there are ways for us to do it without county support.”
This developing story will be updated.
Rich Exner covers regional development and transportation for cleveland.com. Readprevious coverage of Browns stadium plans at this link.