Philadelphia 76ers won’t build controversial $1.3 billion downtown arena

Opponents feared the 76ers’ downtown arena would bring gridlock on game days as well as gentrification and rising rents to the area.

The Philadelphia 76ers have decided not to build a $1.3 billion downtown arena, a surprising move that comes just weeks after the team received approval for the controversial project from the city council.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday that multiple council members had confirmed the change in plans. The team has struck a deal with Comcast Spectacor to remain in the city’s sports stadium district, the newspaper said, but further details about the new proposal have not been released.

The 76ers, the mayor’s office and Comcast Spectator—which owns the Wells Fargo Center, where the team currently plays—did not respond Sunday to requests for comment. The team rents the arena from Comcast Spectacor, which also owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, who also play there.

Opponents of the arena’s move to downtown celebrated the news.

Two City Council members who voted against the plan, Jamie Gauthier and Rue Landau, said the reversal shows that the 76ers’ development arm had not dealt in good faith with the city.

“We’re glad that the Sixers will remain in the stadium district where they best belong. But the way they reached this decision reflects a profound lack of respect for City leaders, stakeholders, and residents,” Gauthier and Rue said in a statement.

The 76ers’ downtown development plan had pitted working-class Philadelphians against each another and the team had pressured City Council to consider a “half-baked” proposal that left open questions about gridlock and the displacement of the city’s Chinatown section, they said.

The council had voted on December 19 to approve the downtown arena after more than two years of heated debate over the proposal, and the owners of the NBA team had hoped to move in to what would be called 76 Place by 2031. The council vote came despite vocal opposition from nearby Chinatown residents and other activists.

“I’m so livid right now I don’t even know what to do,” Jimmy Harrity, an at-large member of the council, told the newspaper. Harrity, who supported the team’s move, said, “I feel as though I was used as a pawn.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat who had championed the plan, has said the entire city will benefit from what she called a “historic game-changing economic development project.” Supporters had hoped the 18,500-seat arena would help revive a distressed retail corridor called Market East, which runs from City Hall to the Liberty Bell. The area has struggled for years despite several redevelopment efforts.

The team owners, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, had pushed for city approval by year’s end so they could meet their target opening date. They had vowed not to ask the city for any construction funding, although they were free to seek state and federal funds. Instead of property taxes, they would have paid about $6 million in annual payments in lieu of taxes.

Opponents feared the arena would bring gridlock on game days as well as gentrification and rising rents to the area.

The Chinatown community has fought a series of proposed developments since the 1960s, including casinos, a prison, a baseball stadium, and a highway, the last of which dissected the neighborhood when it opened in 1991.

The No Arena coalition that had formed to try to block the proposal said in a statement Sunday that City Council’s embrace of the 76ers’ proposal demonstrated that the city needs politicians who respond to “people’s needs instead of corporate greed.”

“We’re relieved to hear that the nightmare of a Center City Sixers arena will not haunt our city any more,” the group said in a statement. “To every Philadelphian who called, marched, testified, and warned City Hall that this was a raw deal: This win belongs to you, and the lesson for politicians is to trust the people.”