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This could be a battle to watch in the coming years — a battle of the billionaires and their venues for Northeast Ohio’s entertainment dollars. And in the latest round, the win goes to Dan Gilbert, David Blitzer and Downtown Cleveland for securing the fifth US location of Cosm, an immersive technology sports and entertainment attraction. But it almost went to suburban Brook Park.
A forum post on UrbanOhio shared an official rendering of the planned Huntington Bank Field in Brook Park. But it highlighted on the left side of that image a conceptual building containing the Cosm venue with its logo clearly visible on it.
Dee and Jimmy Haslam, owners of the Haslam Sports Group which in turn owns the Cleveland Browns, won the prior round in this battle by gaining $600 million in state financing for their Brook Park stadium. It means the Cleveland Browns will move their home football games from downtown’s lakefront to Brook Park starting in Fall 2029.
But Gilbert and Blitzer won this time by landing Cosm at the northeast corner of Huron Road and East 4th Street in the Gateway District. It will be the first phase of Gilbert’s Bedrock Real Estate’s mixed-use Rock Block development. Cosm is due to open in mid-2027.
Sources close to the Haslam Sports Group confirmed to NEOtrans that the Haslams had pursued Cosm. The sources also confirmed the architectural firm HKS, hired by the Haslams, got approval from Cosm to put its logo on the conceptual building next to where a new Huntington Bank Field would rise in Brook Park.
Cosm was seriously considering the Brook Park site. But what tipped the scales in favor of Downtown Cleveland was a $250 million investment in Cosm by Gilbert and Blitzer last year and the fact that the stadium financing was very unclear until last week. That doesn’t mean Haslam Sports Group has thrown in the towel, however.
NEOtrans’ sources says Lincoln Property Co., the Haslams’ developer for the planned, $1.2-billion mixed-use development district surrounding the new enclosed stadium in Brook Park, has other end users in mind. Lincoln is a global real estate company based in Dallas but with a Midwest office in Chicago.
“Lincoln has been in touch with a lot of different experiential retailers,” one of the sources told NEOtrans.
Another source said that leasing activity at the planned Brook Park development should “heat up” now that the Haslams have gotten past the June 30th state budget approval deadline. Thus, their financial path to developing Brook Park has become somewhat clearer.
The sources wouldn’t say whether Lincoln would go after another immersive media venue, such as Live!, which had an interest in Cleveland for a while. In fact, Cordish Companies, had signed a letter of intent in the late-2010s to put a 47,780-square-foot Live! venue in Stark Enterprises’ nuCLEus development that was proposed where Cosm is now planned.
Representatives of Gilbert’s Rock Ventures family of companies have expressed concern about losing entertainment spending from its Downtown Cleveland locations to Brook Park. That includes taxpayer support for public venues like Rocket Arena which is managed by Gilbert’s Rock Entertainment Group.
It is questionable whether the Greater Cleveland market could support two similar, competing venues. And the fact that Cleveland got a Cosm venue before any East Coast city, Chicago, Toronto or other larger cities is a significant win for Northeast Ohio.
“Located immediately across (Huron) from Rocket Arena, Cosm Cleveland will add to the energy of game-day and big events, and activate Bedrock’s Rock Block development with live sports, experiential cinema and entertainment, and cultural offerings year-round,” Cosm President and CEO Jeb Terry.
While Cleveland’s Cosm will offer the same 87-foot diameter, 12K-resolution LED dome as its predecessors in Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and Detroit, Cleveland’s overall structure will be smaller. The other four locations all measure 65,000 to 70,000 square feet.
Cosm venues typically offer up to 1,500 reserved seats plus as many as 500 general-admission, standing-room-only tickets. Based on that, Cleveland’s will likely have slightly more than 1,000 reserved seats with additional standing-room space.
At minimum, Cosm’s existing venues host three programs a day including movies, educational programs and live sporting events. On weekends, each location hosts up to seven programs in a single day.
Assuming an average of three programs per day except major holidays at 50 percent occupancy, Cosm Cleveland could attract approximately 500,000 visitors per year — roughly the same attendance as the current, pre-expansion Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“This incredible venue will enhance our city’s reputation as a hub for sports and entertainment, drawing visitors from near and far to experience a whole new level of immersive entertainment,” said Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb.
Since Cosm offers at-seat food and beverage service, its draw in attracting other dining and drinking establishments nearby may be limited. But it could boost hotel occupancy and even additional development nearby.
Sources say a vertical development is in the cards for Bedrock’s Rock Block’s second phase between Cosm and Prospect Avenue or immediately east of it, depending on Cosm’s parking structure is designed.
Also, Bedrock is continuing to nail down financing for its $488 million Rock and Roll Land entertainment complex. Located just west of the Rock Block on Huron, the 560,017-square-foot structure is planned to include a 268,452-square-foot parking garage for approximately 800 cars, topped by a theater and hotel totaling 17 stories tall.
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