Cleveland City Council holds special meeting regarding the lease at Huntington Bank Field

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Cleveland City Council members are holding a special meeting Monday morning regarding the current lease at Huntington Bank Field.

The deal allows the Cleveland Browns to leave downtown and build a new domed stadium in Brook Park.

And, the money from HSG will go to the lakefront transformation and prepare the current lake stadium site for redevelopment.

On Friday, the city and HSG signed another deal to allow the Cleveland Browns to renew their lease on a year-to-year basis through 2030, in case the new Brook Park stadium is not finished in time.

Work officially began on the new Cleveland Browns stadium in Brook Park on Oct. 2.

HSG announced that AECOM Hunt and Turner Construction Company are the construction managers for the new Huntington Bank Field.

Groundbreaking is expected to take place in early 2026 and HSG hopes the stadium opens in 2029.

Highlights of agreement

• HSG to pay the City of Cleveland the sum of $25 million by December 1, 2025.
• HSG to raze the current Huntington Bank Field in downtown Cleveland to a pad-ready and state at the Browns’ expense. This cost is estimated to be $30 million.
• Beginning on January 1, 2029, pay the City of Cleveland $5 million on or before January 1 of each calendar year until January 1, 2033, totaling $25 million over five years.
• Upon termination of the Lease, HSG to invest no less than $2 million per year over the next 10 years on a mutually agreed Community Benefit Projects totaling no less than $20 million.
• Parties to mutually support infrastructure plans related to road and air travel with respect to both the Brook Park stadium mixed-use project, the modernization of Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, and the development of the Cleveland lakefront, including the redevelopment of the Burke Lakefront Airport property.
• City to support the continuing progress and timely completion of transformational Brook Park stadium and mixed-use development.
• Both parties will voluntarily dismiss all lawsuits with prejudice related to Browns Huntington Bank Field move to Brook Park, OH.

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