BEREA, Ohio — While the Haslam Sports Group continues to push ahead in its plans to build a domed stadium for the Cleveland Browns in Brook Park, they are also presenting a vision for the area surrounding the team's headquarters in Berea.
On Tuesday, the Haslam Sports Group, in partnership with Berea City Schools, the city of Berea, University Hospitals, and DiGeronimo Companies, announced the creation of District 46 at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus.
Calling the area an "expansion of the existing footprint of the Cleveland Browns in Berea," the Haslam Sports Group says the new neighborhood will be over 16 acres and "utilized for a variety of spaces benefitting the region."
District 46 is slated to open in early 2027.
“The City of Berea and Mayor Kleem have been incredible partners to us at the Browns and the Haslam Sports Group, and we’re thrilled to work with them on this expansion project that will benefit so many members of our neighborhood,” said Haslam Sports Group Chief Operating Officer David Jenkins. “We’re thrilled to be working with local developer DiGeronimo and additional partners University Hospitals and Berea City Schools on District 46 at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus and know this development will be transformative for this community.”
So what can we expect when District 46 opens?
Planners say the area will include the following:
- A community field lined for multiple sports for youth, high school, and adult participation
- An upscale hotel that will be developed in partnership with Crawford Hoying and operated by Shaner Hotel Group
- A sports medicine facility operated by the team's health-system partner, University Hospitals (UH)
- Market-rate apartments
- A field house for community use
- A parking garage
- 30k square footage of retail space to support the new pedestrian-friendly neighborhood
“On behalf of the city of Berea, we’re excited to deepen our existing working relationship with the Haslam and Johnson families as well as the Cleveland Browns as we begin to create District 46,” said City of Berea Mayor Cyril Kleem. “For our residents and our community, these new spaces will continue to enhance all our city has to offer and will bring new opportunities for growth that we’re extremely excited about.”
In May, Sean McDonnell of 3News partner Cleveland.com first reported that the Browns were setting the stage for a $200 million mixed-used development area within the city of Berea. Club spokesman Peter John-Baptiste told the publication the territory will include a hotel, offices, retail stores, and new housing along with a rec center and youth sports fields.
According to McDonnell's May reporting, the Browns had already bought up and demolished dozens of homes in the formerly residential neighborhood that suffered a decline from increased railroad traffic from nearby CSX and Norfolk Southern. The organization also sought to tear down the former Serpentini Collision Center on Front Street and pay for a new Mount Zion Baptist Church building roughly a mile away.
Unlike the stadium projects, McDonnell says the Browns' Berea proposal would be paid for nearly entirely with private funds. The city will ask the state of Ohio for about $15 million for the public rec center and sports fields.