Not all billionaires are created equal in the eyes of Cleveland’s leaders.
For months, Justin Bibb and Chris Ronayne have wrestled with the Haslams, who own the Browns, over their plans for a roofed stadium in Brook Park. But Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers and patriarch of the Bedrock and Rocket family of companies? Now there’s a billionaire team owner they can get behind.
Cleveland officials lauded Gilbert in absentia last week at a topping-off ceremony for the Cavs’ new practice facility. Dubbed the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, the building is going up along the Cuyahoga River, where Bedrock has plans for other major developments.
Location was important for speakers at the event, including City Council President Blaine Griffin, who wants the Browns to renovate the lakefront stadium rather than move to Brook Park.
“Dan Gilbert and the Rocket Mortgage team and the Cleveland Clinic put their money where their mouth is, and that’s in the city of Cleveland, in the heart of Cleveland,” Griffin said.
Observers noted the contrast between the warmth for Gilbert’s downtown investments and the coolness for the Haslams’ Brook Park plans. Calling Gilbert “Cleveland leaders’ favorite billionaire,” Axios’ Sam Allard wrote that officials “have a billionaire they feel they can worship in good conscience.”
Cleveland’s love language isn’t just words of affirmation. It’s also economic development incentives, including tax increment financing to boost Bedrock’s riverfront plans.
Real estate writer Ken Prendergast found what he called a “battle of the billionaires” in Bedrock’s landing of Cosm, the immersive entertainment complex, in one of its downtown projects. Look closely at one of the Browns’ Brook Park stadium renderings. Prendergast noted that Cosm had been included in the background.
To that observation Weekly Chatter will add one more. Another rendering of the Brook Park stadium showed the indoor football field converted into — of all things — a basketball court.
Time out for Cleveland’s payments for Browns stadium
We told you last month that Cleveland City Hall was queuing up $2.6 million to reimburse the Browns for repairs at the lakefront Huntington Bank Field.
City Council introduced legislation in June to pay the bill. Typically, such a routine measure would have been passed at the following meeting in July. But the Browns legislation didn’t come up for a vote.
A spokesperson for City Hall said the Browns themselves asked for the delay.