3 minutes ago, Htsguy said:

Who knows.  Cannot recall the details but it might end up that the same thing happens here that happen in Chicago.  The Bears were pretty much all set to move to an old race track in suburban Arlington Heights and then the whole deal fell through when they started working out the details, and now they are back touting a dome in downtown Chicago.

happened in DC with a big announcement that the wizards and capitals were going to Virginia. They had a big photo op with the governor and everything. Then backed out and announced they’re staying in downtown DC and renovating the arena.

Well, as someone once said, it ain't over til it's over.

1 hour ago, KJP said:

BTW, does this separate thread need to exist? The name "Huntington Bank Field" will move with the team to Brook Park, if that facility is built. Semantics, I know.

 

It's been separated as the current Huntington Bank Field is/should be a separate topic from a potential new stadium.  They are two separate structures, each deserving of their own thread. If/when the Brook Park stadium is built, then the other thread will be likely be used for re-use/demo/IKEA/whatever.

29 minutes ago, mu2010 said:

happened in DC with a big announcement that the wizards and capitals were going to Virginia. They had a big photo op with the governor and everything. Then backed out and announced they’re staying in downtown DC and renovating the arena.

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.

I hesitate to say this because l'm oppossed to the BP move but if there's a silver lining it's the huge improvement in the views that visitor's will see when they fly in. WE know the area around the airport is pretty bleak and it is not a great first impression of Cleveland. If Haslam can build his parking lots on the other side of his dome away from the the airport exit the views will dramatically improve. And with the airport getting re-built over the next decade the whole experience shound be much better - we'll look less like a national backwater. 

 

For me, the move is a huge mistake but l'm trying to find any bright spots and this is the one and only thing l came up with.

As a Cleveland transplant I am still shocked at the loyalty this city has to the Haslams. I don't listen really to like sports talk or local sports website news but I never hear anyone mention or calling for the sale of the team. In other cities (like Washington most recently) after years of ineptitude the calls for selling the team grows pretty loud. Even with this move getting announced I don't hear anyone saying he should sell. Seems to me the owners don't care about Cleveland at all and should be asked to sell. 

I'm not the best NEO historian on here - but didn't the city essentially do a land grab to get Hopkins (well within Brook Park's borders) to actually be an annexed part of Cleveland? From my recollection, it had to do with getting projects at the airport off the ground, no pun intended. 

Listening to Baskin & Phelps discussing this project is just so depressing. They have absolutely been given their very shallow talking points. The reverent tones about Brookpark....like this thing is going to singlehandedly save Northeast Ohio. According to them Haslam is just entitled to make money off of this and there's really nothing we can do, because we want football. Lol.

 

**Oh boy, they are going into full on suburban panic mode suggesting downtown is dangerous.  

 

Is BP bleak looking? To the average person, yes... But many people call it home and a working suburb.

 

Do we want anything worthwhile there? Yes, we hate to see perfectly good industrial real estate go to waste...

 

Do we want a stadium there to take up that space?

Hell no. Why have something that's utilized 8-10 times out of the year even covered, when we can have something there that strengthens the workforce and puts your money to work, rather than leech off it? Kind of seems like a no brainer.

 

I'm very sure everyone's seen an airport area before, they're generally not nice looking on the outside. Industry usually takes over, or blends in to the environment. Given the amount of industry and abandoned industry, I generally wouldn't want visitors from out of town to show up to a Browns game and thinking, "What a dump, I never want to come here again, but the stadium was nice". I would hate to leave a bad taste in our visitors' mouth, and keep Brook Park out of the limelight, as it's not what this region is known for anymore. It's not exactly a tourist attraction so let's not make it one. Cleveland is about growth and has seen more progression than abandonment than most areas in the region. Why cripple the image with an eyesore of an area that won't be developed for commerce in 20+ years.

 

Some factors to consider:

-Since Hopkins is bulldozing the Sheridan, will they build another one to help with passenger volumes this stadium is obviously bringing to the immediate vicinity? Will the Hasbeens build their own?

-480 & 71 traffic, as much as that entire interchange is already a nightmare and everyone drives like it's their last day on earth, this will impact many people's commute times, especially to those who work Sundays. Granted the typical POV volume on Sundays is about half as much as a Saturday evening, without proper traffic engineering and management, you will see gridlocks on that interchange every day there's a ball game.

- Influx of inebriated people and DUI investigations and accidents. Hate to talk about it but events like these are prone to attract people like this. What will the city do to increase police presence in the area, and how would they be able to pay for it if they're gifting abatements?

- Accessibility of Hopkins. I'm very sure this will alter how people arrive and depart the airport, how can we ensure that traffic inbound and outbound is separate from the stadium? Seeing as how Bibb was crossed and Hopkins is still Cleveland?

- Let's say the deal falls through. With the way mayor Bibb has been handling the situation, while rather professionally in coordination with the county commissioner, with the good idea fairy crossing the city of Cleveland despite efforts to keep them downtown, does this give the city the edge to say "haha told you so, our deal is still on the table", or will they move the browns to CBus out of spite like Art did? Because not only did your one deal fall through for your ventures, you would rather move elsewhere than say "you were right" to the two people negotiating a contract that benefits the people more than the previous great money giveaway years.

 

I can keep going. This is getting pretty long, but you can see how all this stacks up, and then you really start to notice that the ball may not be in their court. You uproot and plant an organization that nobody would dare move, and expect flowers and hugs from your fans when you don't even have a winning team. The good idea fairy strikes again. Whether or not this happens, series of catastrophic domino effects will happen for everyone in the metro. I know you'll feel it too.

 

🤔...   I wonder if there is a silent majority...!!!???

I don't think anyone truly cares about the stadium going to a large plot of empty industrial land near the airport. The real problem is the public funding required to do it will suck precious resources away from public needs to be given to a family business with a net worth in the billions. Not only that, the family business wants to create a destination that competes with already existing facilities in downtown Cleveland the public has already invested many millions and decades in. I'd add, depending on what Jimmy aspires to, this could also be a threat to the investments made at places like Crocker Park, Van Aken, Pinecrest, etc.

 

What we're really talking about is allowing a family business to dictate our region's development strategy for the decades ahead. With this in mind, I think there should be a vote of the citizens of the county to determine if they want this. 

^ And it will also compete with the IX Center nearby.

FWIW - Brook Park residents are able to get this as a referendum if they choose to do so

For what it's worth, I have a colleague who is involved on the architecture side of things with the Brookpark stadium. He relayed that he had been told the Browns never intended on staying in the City of Cleveland proper, mostly due to the fact that the Haslems hate the city. No matter what was offered, they internally knew they would never stay Downtown.

Edited October 18, 2024Oct 18 by w28th

In the event that the city of Cleveland enforces the modell law and assume they get a ruling in their favor ( even though they are moving across the street

from the city of cleveland proper), Is there anyone in town  other than Dan Gilbert who would be in a position to buy or to put together a package to buy  in the event that the Haslam's were forced to sell?

53 minutes ago, mu2010 said:

happened in DC with a big announcement that the wizards and capitals were going to Virginia. They had a big photo op with the governor and everything. Then backed out and announced they’re staying in downtown DC and renovating the arena.

I will say that dealing with an NBA arena is definitely easier than an NFL stadium. Easier to find new land, less greedy politics, and typically NBA arenas are similar to MLB Stadiums in the aspect of they tend to favor renovations until the arena itself is simply obsolete. 

1 hour ago, YABO713 said:

I'm not the best NEO historian on here - but didn't the city essentially do a land grab to get Hopkins (well within Brook Park's borders) to actually be an annexed part of Cleveland? From my recollection, it had to do with getting projects at the airport off the ground, no pun intended. 

Edit: you might have meant this

 

Brook Park's rural character changed dramatically when WILLIAM R. HOPKINS, Cleveland city manager, selected it as the site of Hopkins Airport (1925, later CLEVELAND HOPKINS INTL. AIRPORT). Legal disagreements over annexation of the airport ended in 1947, when Cleveland paid Brook Park $85,000 to become the legal owner of more than 1,000 acres, including the airport.

 

https://case.edu/ech/articles/b/brook-park#:~:text=and the EAST OHIO GAS,to the Berea School District.

Edited October 18, 2024Oct 18 by Enginerd

4 hours ago, Htsguy said:

I would be much more upset if the Guardians or Cavs were moving to this location for obvious reasons.  Would prefer that the Browns stay downtown but definitely less upset about the move.  Just hate the location and of course the possibility the Haslam is going to fleece the public to build this whether it be state or county money.  If he builds it with all his own money I'll buy season tickets.

Agreed. If it had to be any of the three teams I'm glad it's the Browns. 

44 minutes ago, Enginerd said:

Edit: you might have meant this

 

Brook Park's rural character changed dramatically when WILLIAM R. HOPKINS, Cleveland city manager, selected it as the site of Hopkins Airport (1925, later CLEVELAND HOPKINS INTL. AIRPORT). Legal disagreements over annexation of the airport ended in 1947, when Cleveland paid Brook Park $85,000 to become the legal owner of more than 1,000 acres, including the airport.

 

https://case.edu/ech/articles/b/brook-park#:~:text=and the EAST OHIO GAS,to the Berea School District.

Oh, this is great news. Move the Browns to Brookpark, build the thunder dome and then Cleveland can annex the whole bit for $85K

1 hour ago, simplythis said:

In the event that the city of Cleveland enforces the modell law and assume they get a ruling in their favor ( even though they are moving across the street

from the city of cleveland proper), Is there anyone in town  other than Dan Gilbert who would be in a position to buy or to put together a package to buy  in the event that the Haslam's were forced to sell?

There would always be someone willing to step in.   I bet Lebron could be the anchor of an ownership group and would be very interested in getting in on owning a Cleveland sports franchise.  

29 minutes ago, Cleburger said:

There would always be someone willing to step in.   I bet Lebron could be the anchor of an ownership group and would be very interested in getting in on owning a Cleveland sports franchise.  

Now that would be wild!

fyi here’s the browns email i just got from jimmy & his gang —

 

 

 

Browns to Focus Stadium Efforts
on Dome in Brook Park

 

STATEMENT FROM
Dee & Jimmy Haslam

 

 

Our stadium planning process started in 2017 and as Mayor Bibb mentioned today, for the last two years, we have had positive, productive, and collaborative dialogue with the Mayor and his staff, working together to find the optimal long-term solution for
our stadium.

 

We pursued many possibilities, with our initial focus on renovating the current stadium and engaged design, construction and engineering experts to develop a plan to do so. We also explored building a new
stadium on multiple sites, both within and outside of Cleveland. We've learned through our exhaustive work that renovating our current stadium will simply not solve many operational issues and would be a short-term approach. With more time to reflect, we have also realized that without a dome, we will not attract the type of large-scale events and year-round activity to justify the magnitude of this public-private partnership. The transformational economic opportunities created by a dome far outweigh what a renovated
stadium could produce with around ten events per year.

 

In the spirit of exhausting all downtown options and continuing to work in good faith with the Mayor, when he announced his efforts to potentially make Burke available for development last month, we engaged in further diligence with the city and County Executive Ronayne's staff regarding a potential dome stadium on Burke. The significant design, construction, geotechnical and environmental challenges were again apparent. Our work reinforced that despite the City, County and our team doing their best to make the economics work, building a stadium on the Burke property is cost prohibitive and not feasible, especially with no certainty
regarding potential timing of closure of the Airport.

 

We have communicated to the Mayor and his team at every step of the process regarding our mutual efforts to keep the stadium downtown and we conveyed to them yesterday, our most impactful investment for our region is to focus on making a dome stadium and adjacent development in Brook Park a reality. With the funding mechanisms we continue to work on, this stadium will not use existing taxpayer-funded streams that would divert resources from other more pressing needs. Instead, the over $2 billion private investment, together with the public investment, will create a major economic development project that will drive the activity necessary to pay the public bond debt service through future project-generated
and Browns-generated revenue.

 

A solution like this will be transformative not only for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, but also the entire state of Ohio from the resulting events, tourism, and job creation. Additionally, moving the current stadium will allow the city and region's collective vision for the Cleveland lakefront to be optimally realized, and downtown will benefit from the major events the Brook Park dome brings to
the region.

 

Cleveland and Northeast Ohio are the fabric of the Browns and that will always be the case. Our community commitment to Cleveland
and efforts to improve the lives of its residents will not change. Again, our work with Mayor Bibb and city officials has been transparent and collaborative throughout.

 

We will continue to work in earnest with city, county, and state officials to work together on
these transformational opportunities.

 

As we have previously said, we understand this is a complex process with more questions still to be answered and we will continue to communicate openly as our process evolves. We recognize our season on the field has not had the start we all hoped for and are working hard to improve each week to make our fans proud. At the same time, it is critical that we remain committed to the best long-term, sustainable solution for our stadium and to providing the world-class dome experience our fans deserve. We are confident that the Brook Park project will significantly benefit the Northeast Ohio region for generations to come.

 

2 hours ago, w28th said:

For what it's worth, I have a colleague who is involved on the architecture side of things with the Brookpark stadium. He relayed that he had been told the Browns never intended on staying in the City of Cleveland proper, mostly due to the fact that the Haslems hate the city. No matter what was offered, they internally knew they would never stay Downtown.

I've wondered for a while if that's part of what's going on behind the scenes. If Jimmy is in the right small suburb, he's basically King Kong and has so much leverage that no local official can (or would be willing to) get in his way. In Cleveland, there's a strong mayor and city council that will always be breathing down his neck.

2 hours ago, w28th said:

For what it's worth, I have a colleague who is involved on the architecture side of things with the Brookpark stadium. He relayed that he had been told the Browns never intended on staying in the City of Cleveland proper, mostly due to the fact that the Haslems hate the city. No matter what was offered, they internally knew they would never stay Downtown.

If this is actually true then I would like to see the city file suit under the Model statute for kicks and giggles and just to aggravate them.  I don't believe the suit would be successful as the law is probably unconstitutional but it would still be fun to watch.  Way more entertaining than an actual Browns game currently.

The Haslams can focus their efforts there all they want, but theyre not guaranteed the public funds at all. What happens if the county and state reject their request for $1.2bil? 

On 10/17/2024 at 3:13 PM, LlamaLawyer said:

 

To be fair, it's not really a $2.5 billion investment by Haslam that's being contemplated. It's a $1.2 billion investment by Haslam, plus about $1.2 billion of Ohio taxpayer money, plus about $1.2 billion in money from whatever investors are going to build out the ballpark village.

 

I agree that the Browns moving to Brookpark is not likely to be a huge economic blow for the city, and what Haslam is doing is not nearly the same as what Model did.

 

But I completely understand why Bibb is taking the position he is, and I think it's very smart. The city made a very reasonable offer, which Haslam rejected, and Bibb is obviously not pulling punches but is also leaving the door open. Bibb is coming out with all of this two hours before the Guardians play in front of a national audience, and I think there's a good chance this gets talked about more as a result. Haslam needs a bunch of money from other people to get a new stadium done. So to the extent Bibb can add credence to the (very justified) notion that Jimmy H is a less-than-fully-honest counterparty for a transaction, that puts a lot of pressure on the Browns and therefore increases the chance that the Brookpark deal falls apart and the Browns have to stay in Cleveland. That's clearly what Bibb wants, and I'm not sure it will happen in any event, but this seems like the approach most likely to get it.

"I agree that the Browns moving to Brookpark is not likely to be a huge economic blow for the city, and what Haslam is doing is not nearly the same as what Model did."

- It will be when Jimmy's playground is hosting events and concerts that have been at RMFH, whose attendees are supporting places like E4 and W25th. This move is going to have a lot of negative consequences for downtown in many more ways than just 8 home Browns games a year

On 10/17/2024 at 4:42 PM, PlanCleveland said:

If I'm being honest, mostly out of fear for the future, I wish they would not take this action when he's just moving next to the airport. 

 

If this were to truly get tested and found it's way all up to the current supreme court, I'm not sure the law stands. Then that opens the door for increased leverage on the side of other teams around the state to get what they want or flee. The Guardians are going to be taken over by some PE bros with no ties to the city in the next few years, and may ask for a new stadium, or else, as the current lease expires in 2036.

Moving to a completely different municipality and poaching even more events like concerts from places like RMH, hotel rooms and restaurant patrons is not "just moving next to the airport"

12 hours ago, mrnyc said:

well clearly this move was the plan all along. and i understand it — the swath of post-industrial property and the parking get is too juicy to pass up. no available site in cle could match that.

 

tbh i can’t wait to see the mistake by the lake II removed and the prime waterfront redeveloped.

 

and let’s not kid ourselves, we’ll still torture ourselves following the brookpark browns. 🤡

 

just trying to look to the upsides here.

 

 

 

And Cleveland will demolish the stadium when and with what money? 

5 hours ago, w28th said:

For what it's worth, I have a colleague who is involved on the architecture side of things with the Brookpark stadium. He relayed that he had been told the Browns never intended on staying in the City of Cleveland proper, mostly due to the fact that the Haslems hate the city. No matter what was offered, they internally knew they would never stay Downtown.

Well Cleveland hates you back jimmy! He embodies everything that Cleveland is not and needs to go back to Tennessee and sell the team. Okay rant over. Time to watch the guardians. 

1 hour ago, AsDustinFoxWouldSay said:

 Jimmy's playground is hosting events and concerts that have been at RMFH, 

The shows/comcerts that play stadiums are not the same shows that play in arenas. This is not apples to apples. 

2 hours ago, AsDustinFoxWouldSay said:

And Cleveland will demolish the stadium when and with what money? 

 

if a stadium demo is the only thing standing in the way then you are saying the land around it isn’t very valuable.

 

i would beg to differ, the demo roi is all upside for future taxes.

3 hours ago, AsDustinFoxWouldSay said:

And Cleveland will demolish the stadium when and with what money? 

 

The city of Cleveland has a $20 million reserve in sin tax funds. It can be used to demolish the stadium. But I expect the city will invoke the Modell Law to try to extract demolition funds from the Browns as a condition of letting them go without further legal battles.

1 hour ago, jeremyck01 said:

The shows/comcerts that play stadiums are not the same shows that play in arenas. This is not apples to apples. 

If anything, the only thing made redundant is the IX Center

This whole thing is beginning to read

like a bad script.  Surely all of the actors here knew that BP was the ultimate choice and come hell or high water thats where the Browns were headed. The City makes a counter-offer to renovate a 30 year old stadium absolutely knowing it had no chance.  Also, they offer Burke knowing that the time-line for that was way in the future and hence not accetable. As as result, the City can claim they tried to retain the team and play the jilted party. Meanwhile, the County and State can sit and wait, showing nominal support out of duty to the City, biding their time till called upon to finance the portion that the Browns dont.

I noticed Jimmy didn’t mention why a roof over the current stadium wasn’t viable. 

19 minutes ago, surfohio said:

I noticed Jimmy didn’t mention why a roof over the current stadium wasn’t viable. 

not once, he hates the city. just wait til the Cleveland annexes the plots they're planning to build on in exchange for sin tax. (Im joking of course)

 

Edited October 19, 2024Oct 19 by tastybunns

8 hours ago, surfohio said:

I noticed Jimmy didn’t mention why a roof over the current stadium wasn’t viable. 

 

i also noticed the fix was in for brook park as soon as i realized all the parking that would be available.

 

what would shock me the most is if haslam actually builds anything there other than the stadium.

7 hours ago, tastybunns said:

not once, he hates the city. just wait til the Cleveland annexes the plots they're planning to build on in exchange for sin tax. (Im joking of course)

 

you may be on to something there...are there any Federal eminent domain options to obtain the property for the greater public good - airport expansion. "Mayor Pete (aka Secretary Pete Buttigieg) - we have a Zoom call for you from Sherrod Brown, Justin Bibb and Chris Ronayne who need your help with an important transportation issue in Cleveland..."

https://www.justice.gov/enrd/condemnation/land-acquisition-section/history-federal-use-eminent-domain

 

btw - I still can't understand why the city did not grab th entire parcel when it became available.

47 minutes ago, mrnyc said:

 

i also noticed the fix was in for brook park as soon as i realized all the parking that would be available.

 

what would shock me the most is if haslam actually builds anything there other than the stadium.

I think a couple of new hotels are a realistic possibility along with an airport parking garage. They are needed, especially with the airport Sheraton demo'd. Residential is anyones guess, if at all. Am i correct in understanding that anything built, save for the stadium itself, would be private money?

 

I think the County should flex a little muscle here.  Now that the City is out of the picture, the County is in the drivers seat when it comes to protecting the public interest. Plus, through public financing, it will have a seat at the table. This would be a nice test for regionalism. 

Edited October 19, 2024Oct 19 by B767PILOT
Additional comments

Don’t forget all the infrastructure costs like roads. It could also increase in cost depending on if they have delays. 
 

One thing the Haslams could do that would be helpful is put earnest support behind the city as it works to rethink the waterfront. I.E. Help deliver support and funding from Republicans especially if Trump and Moreno win. That would be a good, civic-minded thing that wouldn’t actually cost them a lot directly. Based on where things are now, it doesn’t seem likely they would do that. And it’s not a surprise because their objective is to reorient investment toward their property. 

The last thing Trump, Moreno, Haslem, and other MAGA freaks are thinking about is the betterment of a blue city or blue/purple region.

 

Specifically, Haslem has done nothing but lie, mislead, lead on, and waste Cleveland's time. He is not a developer and Cleveland and the region are blips on his 10-figure portfolio. The guy has far more going on than this distraction.

 

No county money. No state money. Jimmy's as much a charlatan as those two bozos. Let the suburbanites Go Fund or tithe the grift.

 

However, I am looking forward to the end-of-season apology letter Jimmy will be sending. I'm sure the prompt has already been entered in Gemini. 

2 hours ago, B767PILOT said:

I think a couple of new hotels are a realistic possibility along with an airport parking garage. They are needed, especially with the airport Sheraton demo'd. Residential is anyones guess, if at all. Am i correct in understanding that anything built, save for the stadium itself, would be private money?

With Hopkins shoehorned into such a tight space, it would be nice if some of that property could be used for airport landside operations - hotel(s), parking, rental cars. If so, I assume that would be funded by the airlines.

 

Safe travels @B767PILOT.

 

Edited October 19, 2024Oct 19 by LibertyBlvd

Oops - Dee hit the enter button.

 

Dear Browns Fans,

 

I deeply apologize for the disappointing season we’ve endured. Your unwavering support and passion for the Browns deserve much better, and I take full responsibility for our shortcomings. This season has been a tough one, but I want to assure you that we are committed to making the necessary changes to build a team that reflects the pride and dedication of our incredible fanbase.

 

Despite the setbacks, there are reasons to be optimistic. We have a talented core of players who are determined to bounce back stronger. Our coaching staff is dedicated to learning from this season and implementing strategies to improve our performance. Additionally, we are actively seeking to strengthen our roster through smart acquisitions and draft picks.

Thank you for your loyalty and patience during this challenging time. Together, we will strive for a brighter future and bring the success you deserve.

 

Sincerely, the Grifters 

 

4 hours ago, Willo said:

you may be on to something there...are there any Federal eminent domain options to obtain the property for the greater public good - airport expansion. "Mayor Pete (aka Secretary Pete Buttigieg) - we have a Zoom call for you from Sherrod Brown, Justin Bibb and Chris Ronayne who need your help with an important transportation issue in Cleveland..."

https://www.justice.gov/enrd/condemnation/land-acquisition-section/history-federal-use-eminent-domain

 

btw - I still can't understand why the city did not grab th entire parcel when it became available.

 

No? We have a fresh example of it. It's why Tony George was able to grab the land at West 25th and Detroit-Superior Bridge before the city could for Irishtown Bend Park. We need some honest, wealthy people in Cleveland to be on the lookout for a vulnerable parcels like this citywide, grab them before the vultures and captors do, and take a tax write-off when they donate them to the city/county/port/metroparks or at least sell them below market value.

3 hours ago, KJP said:

 

No? We have a fresh example of it. It's why Tony George was able to grab the land at West 25th and Detroit-Superior Bridge before the city could for Irishtown Bend Park. We need some honest, wealthy people in Cleveland to be on the lookout for a vulnerable parcels like this citywide, grab them before the vultures and captors do, and take a tax write-off when they donate them to the city/county/port/metroparks or at least sell them below market value.

I only offered as a brainstorming idea to eff the Haslam Sport Group given the smart-ass HSG press release.  What an insult.  In public taking cases each is different so who knows hiow it would play but would obviously take too much time.  In the George case they already owned the land and then ran circles aorund the county by then hurriedly taking out a loan and put up the monstrosity billboard (not sure how that got thru) and then the county couldn't admit they got played and would not recognize the value of the billboard and revenue stream and continued to lowball him. This case though is a little interesting as we have not heard yet (have we?) if they completed their option on the property and taken possession. Reading between the lines of the press release Jimmy appears to be running the clock on the option until he is shown the money (local, county and State) that meets his unknown defintion of a private/public partnership: "...We will continue to work in earnest with city, county, and state officials to work together on these transformational opportunities. As we have previously said, we understand this is a complex process with more questions still to be answered and we will continue to communicate openly as our process evolves."  Cleveland politics and sports(off field) are never dull.  

5 hours ago, TBideon said:

Oops - Dee hit the enter button.

 

Dear Browns Fans,

 

I deeply apologize for the disappointing season we’ve endured. Your unwavering support and passion for the Browns deserve much better, and I take full responsibility for our shortcomings. This season has been a tough one, but I want to assure you that we are committed to making the necessary changes to build a team that reflects the pride and dedication of our incredible fanbase.

 

Despite the setbacks, there are reasons to be optimistic. We have a talented core of players who are determined to bounce back stronger. Our coaching staff is dedicated to learning from this season and implementing strategies to improve our performance. Additionally, we are actively seeking to strengthen our roster through smart acquisitions and draft picks.

Thank you for your loyalty and patience during this challenging time. Together, we will strive for a brighter future and bring the success you deserve.

 

Sincerely, the Grifters 

 

Jimmy and his HSG crisis response PR team were probably wetting themsleves laughing as they feign taking full responsibilty and then talking about a purposely vague utopian "bright future" through "smart acquisitions and draft picks."  Jimmy boy thanks but I'll pass on your bs.

George swooped in and bought the land in 2018 while the city and other public entities were amassing properties for the park. 

 

George didn't put up the billboards. According to Google historical imagery, those billboards have been there since at least 1994.

20 minutes ago, KJP said:

George swooped in and bought the land in 2018 while the city and other public entities were amassing properties for the park. 

 

George didn't put up the billboards. According to Google historical imagery, those billboards have been there since at least 1994.

My bad I knew there was always a billboard but I assumed he put up a new one following my very fast read of what Signal said came out in the hearing: "...The Georges bought the building and billboard for $1.1 million, according to a purchase agreement included in county Board of Revision documents. They also took out a mortgage for the same amount, county records show. They paid $248,200 for the property and $851,800 for the billboard, according to the purchase agreement. County records show the property is now valued at $350,000. An attorney for the Port of Cleveland offered the company $360,000 for the building and land, according to a January 2022 letter included in court exhibits. That offer did not include the cost of the billboard, “as it is the intention to either reinstall the billboard on-site or relocate the board if reinstallation is not feasible,” the port’s letter read." 

Can't wait for the photos of that corner once bulldozed.

sorry for our sidetrack from the thread topic - can we paste it where it belongs?

Edited October 19, 2024Oct 19 by Willo

Another Sunday of perfect weather in Cleveland, Ohio.  Now imagine having to watch football played inside today in a fixed-roof stadium.

 

Hey Jimmy if you're going to make us spend crazy money on this thing at least make the roof retractable.