Willo

Build futuristic entry point to new airport. Remember that idea? We can extend the waterfront line to the off-shore airport. Then bulldoze the old airport and turn it into a regional waste water treatment center and garbage and recyling transfer station.

Yes great example not to give up. DC had even less leverage than Clev/County but still won. So the city and county should expedite plans to remove or repurpose the House of Sadness to box Jimmy in with BP or come back to the table. Although, the Virginia location is just over the DC line and also across from DCA that area makes total sense as an alternate given the demographics and transit lines - while the BP site does not other being next to a kinda shabby airport and the very exclusive Brookpark Road retail, lodging by the hour arts district. My guess is if Jimmy does end up having an official groundbreaking at BP, he will be less liked than Art, so the Bratenahl house goes on the market and he moves to New Albany in the C-bus market where he is loved. Is an easy drive and can just add an apartment at the new Berea development to stay when in town.

and the reverse view from the lakefront toward the skyline is equally impressive - especially if you remember the views from the temporary stage set up for the NFL Draft that the whole world saw. I think we should focus on public access features as Bibb has emphasized. We really don't need too much housing or offices down there as we already have so much land to develop downtown that should be activated with the 1st lakefront plan. Maybe widen the planned landbridge, add an an amphitheatre with the Rock Hall in mind and those stunning cityscape views, and maybe a unique landmark scupture or park a la Chicago. Why not reconsider the Miguel Rosales concept bridge (in tandem with the planned narrow land bridge) that was planned in time for the 2016 R convention now that we will have more space with the stadium gone. It is ironic that the Rosales concept was probably scuttled in part by Jimmy/Dee (besides $ and timing) because it was a tight fit that would have infringed on the footprint of any planned stadium updates and the lakefrontplan they were about to propose. https://rosalespartners.com/portfolio/cleveland-lakefront-bridge/ We should also have our State $ reparations wish list ready as DeWine is going to owe us big time once/if he gives Jimmy boy the lionshare of public dolars as expected (and gives the same big $ amount to his hometown Cincitucky for their stadium remodel).

Spot on. There is no way to spiff that area up - the area is what it is. I recall when using the rental car shuttle and watchiing visitors smirk and comment on the dreary surrounding area from the airport to the off-site rental car facility. I always wondered why Cleveland PR folks never realized this. At the least the plans are to return the rental car facility to the airport grounds.

Beautiful. I don't think Brook Park gets such sunsets.

We'll see if the deal falls apart as Bibb mentions. Ronayne - you and the County are on the clock. DeWine is most likely a yes as Jimmy would not have gone public if he did not get the go ahead wink in private from his buddy DeWine.

Thank you that is great news and confirmation!!! We definitely need to do so much more as right now it looks like a grave marker - but that in itself is so Cleveland. Maybe an initial step to socialize this forgotten history (to me at least) would be for the Canal Basin Group to rename the Mile Zero Park as the Alexis de Tocqueville Mile Zero Park or maybe Alexis de Tocqueville Hope Memorial Veterans Bridge.

Yes that dig was unnecessary but doesn't sting as much as in the past in contrast to all of the positive happenings relayed in the story to that important audience reading it. My favorite nugget was: You might not know it today, but the Cuyahoga River bank has had a foundational role in Cleveland’s growth—one could even call it the city’s raison d’être. Mera Cardenas, the executive director of Canalway Partners, noted that the site was the “western boundary of the United States” where Moses Cleveland first landed in 1796. Legend has it that Alexis de Tocqueville took his “first steps” in the U.S. where Canal Basin Park is located. Alexis de Tocqueville? Really? Folklore or not we need at least a plaque marker to commemorate - "de Tocqueville was here" and even a cafe/gift shop to add to the curiosity.

The Jackson name would jinx the airport renovation. Try something like Haslam Sports Group Dome Stadium Scenic Overlook Drive. Maybe if he threw in a new airport with private equity funding we could support the Browns move to suddenly hip BP.

maybe add some vape shops and outpatient treatment centers in the rest of the empty buildings on that block to draw more foot traffic

This has to be on Ronayne's county wish list given his prior roles with Clev and UCI?

As most things in Cleveland things really need to hit rock bottom and then all have to admit we have a problem. Hopefully Bibb and Ronayne can engage national or international planner people to offer ideas on completely reimagining the entire square and parking lots footprint. No more tinkering on the edges - we need big thinkers on this one. After all this was one of the first TODs in the country built with late 1920's vision and now sorely needs a late 2020's TOD vision as it hits its 100th birthday in the next 5 years or so. Could there be any better timing? Edwins departure may actually move this discussion forward (plus Nightown is really close as the crow flies and we hope their next phase actually gains more success with their important mission at the Top of the Hill).

So true. Dead man's curve is enough for one town but then add the West 3rd-East 9th car pinball cluster to the mix is pure insanity. Glad that this is finally being addressed or at least an initial phase. A boulevard with slower speed limits will be so nice and safer - especially with a new 18th street intersection/traffic control creating a whole new entryway to downtown and development. Also removing the elevated branch ramps will visually encourage lakefront access as much as the narrow Y bridge proposed from the Mall toward the Rock Hall and the Stadium of Sadness. Because we lost so much time during the last Jackson administrations now we have to walk and chew gum at the same time and lauch mutliple projects everywhere we can while we can and while the gods finally seem to be in our corner for once.

Thank you. Is a great example why we should question rosey data put out before a close election.

Most likely but what an unexpected year. Guardians with the 28th payroll in the big dance playing with the top three teams in payroll. 3 game win streak can still happen. Kudos either way. We can be disappointed if the season ends with this series - but not mad - especially in comparison with Jimmy boy’s sabotage operation of the Browns. How can it not be intentional- if was just Jimmy and Dee - but would the entire Haslam Sports Group play along to be ridiculed as incompetent unless there was an end game in play (e.g., multi-front scheme to trigger move of franchise to glamour market or C-bus)? https://haslamsports.com/leadership/

Hate to suck up oxygen on the Browns while the Guardians are hot but spotted some nuggets in NYTs on equity investments as mentioned in the KJP story and the owners' insatiable greed: ...By year’s end, owners of N.F.L. teams, worth on average $6.5 billion, may get nine-figure checks to help pay for new stadiums, buy out partners or retire debt. ...Private equity firms have access to billions of dollars and have been eager investors in the sports world. But they have a reputation for slashing costs at companies they acquire and flipping them for a quick profit, potential turmoil the N.F.L. owners want to avoid. So last year, Mr. Goodell created a committee that included Mr. Hunt, Mr. Kraft, the Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, the Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, the Denver Broncos chief executive Greg Penner and the Commanders owner Josh Harris to design rules so teams could tap private equity money while keeping the firms at arms length. At a meeting in August, the league’s owners approved investment by four private equity groups. Three of them — Arctos, Sixth Street and Ares Management — can invest in no more than six teams at a time. The fourth group, a consortium that includes Blackstone and the Carlyle Group, can invest in up to 12 teams. “We tried to talk to people who we think are in the know, and I think we were patient on this,” Mr. Goodell said to reporters after the meeting. “We hope by taking what we think are the blue-chip firms that this will be a successful approach for everyone at the N.F.L., the investors and the firms. So we think we found the right model.” Seems Jimmy is poised to squeeze as much profit as fast as he can before dumping and running leaving behind a multi-billion dollar brook park ghost town. Explains why he can't wait for Burke to be available to do what he had proclaimed wanting in the past -stay downtown. How soon does the NFL increase 10% private equity to more... https://archive.is/K2joW

We can only hope...but I am sure the broadcasters will replay the midge invasion of that magical night several times. Thank you for the memory jog.

no need for personal attacks

If this comes to pass with Brook Park, Haslam Sports Group should pay for any infrastructure including upgraded transit or walkways. We are already trying to pay for a new $2 Billion airport to replace our current tarmac-adjacent bus station - not to mention critical BRTs, greenways and other area transportation updgrades now in line - and we do not need this playground to jump to the front of the line and undermine those for a billionaire family worth at least 14 Billion combined.

Still processing this story and waiting for Royayne and Bibb to stick their heads out...until then we do not trust DeWine - he after all was attorney general and filed the Modell lawsuit as a tactic to keep the crew in C-bus. It was never tested beyond that as a deal was very qucikly made to get Jimmy boy the team. How close is DeWine to the Haslam clan since Jimmy's billionaire brother was TN governor at that time of DeWine's suit and they all moved within the Bush/Cheney orbit together. So the law was never tested beyond that as it quickly served as the needed leverage to get Jimmy boy the team. Not sure what his end game is with our situation - is it simply a Brook Park dome and playground and wanting to leave his 3 children a legacy or is it to provoke a fight with northeast ohio so he can cite a lack of community support like Modell and quickly jettison the team to welcoming C-Bus or elsewhere (while sabotaging the Browns' on field play to depress intertest and opposition to a move) - after the law's 6-month cooling off period. I hope our leaders are tougher than the mayor who lost us the Browns for 3 years and brought us to this point in history again. Also, where is NOACA's pre-emptive strike against earmarking sparse transportation for the obvious infrastructure needed to access the propopsed playground. While this plays out this story seems to have the basics on the Modell law. https://www.sportico.com/law/analysis/2024/cleveland-browns-stadium-modell-law-1234778742/ Also if Jimmy boy can do this adjacent to downtown Columbus why isn't he doing the same here? Why doesn't the argument he used to move the Crew from the privately funded soccer-specifc stadium just built in 2000 or so next to I-71 (surrounding area simiar to the BP location) with lots of developable land for a playground and instead leave it behind so soon to build new again but in downtown Columbus? Something is off with this group regarding their Browns plans - Haslam Sport Group that is...

So sad to see those homes go. Kinda tone deaf they thought it was mitigating that they will keep the trees. That is like moving the Brownsout of Cleveland but telling us at least you get to keep the name, history and colors and you may get a new team in the future.

Is a great location and we are lucky the hometown business has hung in there. Nobody would have blamed if they closed after the one-two gut punch of Covid and the blm riots, looting and destruction the prior admin allowed. - like Geiger’s next door. Hopefully they will continue to right-size offerings at that unique location and customers for a few more years until the elephant across the street gets going and others come on line (e.g., Ohio Savings redo, Project Scarlett, former UCC hq, SomeraRoad…even NY Spaghetti House lot as long promised by Geis?).

The interior atrium pics shows what can be done to the old SW when vacated. Just as was done to May Company to bring light into the interior large floor plates.

It seems like it will pass easily given the strength of the pro- campaign and big money. I guess if it doesn’t work out there will just be another initiative to end the commission. I would have rather our elected officials just do their job no matter how many times a Court sets a map aside. That way they are still accountable to the people who elect them and conversely could be targeted by voters and the same lobbies when the people find necessary. The wild card in this - besides being comprised of 15 political insiders - is who will these so-called 5 “Independents” be? In DC most “Independents” caucus almost 100% with one party. So the battle for both parties - and their lobbies and dark money who always love commissions - will be battling over who the “chosen” 5 Independents are. Something about “selected” vs “elected” seems off. But i guess we will just let the people see how this experiment plays out once implemented.

Although many Clevelanders often have to move elsewhere we always miss Cleveland and want it to succeed. Even the likes of Jake and Logan Paul who are living the dream in the private Dorado enclave of Puerto Rico. Noted this nugget in this story ahead of Jake's fight with Mike Tyson. They couldn't be worse owners than Jimmy? ...Beyond that, he wants to own an NFL team — just not his hometown team. “The Browns have a curse — so then I end up drifting to the Chiefs. Travis Kelce, he’s from Cleveland, so I’m a fan,” he says. World champion. NFL owner. None of this “YouTuber” stuff. Then, finally, no one will call Jake Paul a joke ever again. Or at least that’s the plan... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/jake-paul-interview-boxing-mike-tyson-youtube-1236026910/