OBITUARIES / PASSINGS / Richard E. Jacobs

Richard E. Jacobs, 83, the former owner of the Cleveland Indians and a commercial real estate developer, died Friday after a lengthy illness, according to his real estate firm. No other details were immediately released.

Jacobs and his brother David bought the Indians from the Steve O’Neill estate in late 1986 for $40 million. David Jacobs died in 1992.

Dick Jacobs focused on restoring the struggling American League franchise’s profitability and making it competitive on the field.

The team’s new ballpark in downtown Cleveland became Jacobs Field when it opened in 1994, and the Indians made it to the World Series in 1995 and 1997. Jacobs owned the club until selling to the Dolan family in 2001.

The park was renamed Progressive Field last year after Jacobs’ naming rights deal ended and Progressive Corp. bought the rights.

Jacobs was chairman and chief executive of the Richard E. Jacobs Group, a firm in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake that he founded with his late brother David and Dominic Visconsi in 1955.

The company developed the 57-story Key Center in 1991 at Cleveland’s Public Square, the tallest building between New York and Chicago. The Jacobs Group is a national developer of shopping centers, office buildings, mixed-use developments and hotels.

Jacobs was born June 16, 1925, in Akron, Ohio. He served in the Army during World War II and graduated from Indiana University before going into business with his brother.