BEREA, Ohio — More than 20 years after opening up their headquarters in Berea, the Browns seem to have big plans for the space around the building.
Sean McDonnell of 3News partner Cleveland.com reports the team is setting the stage for a $200 million mixed-used development area within the city. Club spokesman Peter John-Baptiste tells the publication the territory will include a hotel, offices, retail stores, and new housing along with a rec center and youth sports fields.
"We've seen this trend in the NFL where facilities are being used as catalysts for development within their community," John-Baptiste said, adding the Browns would roughly double their footprint in Berea by adding more than 16 acres of land.
According to McDonnell, the Browns have 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 wants 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.
"From my perspective this would be transformative in whatever form it takes," Berea Mayor Cyril Kleem told Cleveland.com. "We know it's the Browns. It's not going to be something we wouldn't be proud of."
The news out of Berea comes as the Browns continue negotiations for a potential new stadium in Brook Park, less than 10 minutes away from team headquarters. The club is seeking to either build a new stadium in the suburbs for around $2.4 billion or renovate the existing downtown Cleveland venue for $1 billion.
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.
John-Baptiste says the Browns hope to break ground on the project by the end of the year. The team's lease in Berea runs through 2039.