Philly Mayor Parker unveils plans, legislative package for proposed 76ers arena complex

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker unveiled details of her administration’s agreement with the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night, one week after she announced her approval for the long-debated Center City arena. 

Parker touted an economic opportunity plan that includes a $50 million community benefits agreement and the potential creation of 1,000 jobs for the proposal, which encompasses an 18,000-seat arena and entertainment complex – featuring residential, retail and other spaces – that would replace the current Fashion District. 

“It is a historic agreement. It’s the best sports facility agreement in Philadelphia’s history,” Parker said beginning Wednesday’s meeting. “It keeps our hometown 76ers playing in Philadelphia at least until 2061…What else makes it historic? The Sixers are financing (the) project with no city funds – that is an approach that is unprecedented among our local sports facilities.”

The details come one week after her decision was announced in a video statement and two weeks after the town hall meeting where city officials heard from hundreds of residents and groups regarding the proposed redevelopment of what is now the Fashion District in the Market East area. 

The legislative package – posted on the city website – includes nine bills and two resolutions  related to land transfers, zoning shifts, and an arrangement for the Sixers to pay the city PILOTs, or payments in lieu of property taxes.

The agreement would land the 76ers in the city’s Market East neighborhood for 30 years – from 2031 to 2061 – after the team’s lease with the Wells Fargo Center expires. The team has pointed toward scheduling conflicts with the Philadelphia Flyers and the need for a state-of-the-art arena to compete nationally as the primary reasons for wanting out of the South Philadelphia sports complex.

The $1.55 billion Center City complex – the most recent development project proposed for Philadelphia’s Market Street East and Chinatown neighborhoods – has received massive pushback from nearby residents and community advocates, who argue such a project would forever change the community and culture of one of the nation’s oldest Chinatowns. 

Parker touted the agreement as not only a promising development project but a revitalization opportunity for the city. She said the 76ers would pay the city an average of $6 million a year for the next 30 years through property and other taxes. Parker and her administration also stressed that there would be no public funding going toward the arena construction and agreement terms. 

“I’m extremely excited about the potential that this agreement has to offer for the City of Philadelphia,” Parker told reporters following a press conference on Sept. 24. “Market Street, from City Hall to the river, represents Philadelphia’s first commercial quarter in the entire city. This will serve, I believe, as a revival of Market Street…an economic revival.”

The $50 million community benefits agreement the city negotiated with the 76ers, half of which will go directly to impacted neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of the project at 10th and Market Streets, includes: $3 million for a Chinatown small business lending fund, $1.6 million in grants to businesses impacted by construction, $2 million for neighborhood businesses that want to work with the arena, $4.1 million for security cameras, lighting and a substation for law enforcement, $1.25 million for a commercial corridor cleaning program, $3 million for public transit incentives and $7 million to support extended-year schooling – one of Parker’s campaign priorities. 

Posters at the public presentation showed construction in two phases – beginning in 2027 and 2030, respectively. Phase I would be the arena site and south side of the 1000 block of Market, which will include 380 residential units, 28,000 square feet of retail space and 127 parking spaces. Phase 2 would include the south side of the 900 block of Market Street, more than 400,000 square feet of retail space and 114 parking spaces. There are additional hotel, retail and other business spaces along Market Street as well. 

With the mayor’s go-ahead and City Council back in legislative session, the arena legislation and hearing process may begin sooner rather than later. 

The major policy players in City Hall include Parker, Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmember Mark Squilla, who represents the Center City area where the arena would be situated and has the councilmanic prerogative – a tradition of allowing City Council members to control land-use decisions in their own districts – to determine its future. 

Squilla, who previously said the public would be able to see draft versions of the bills for 30 days before he officially introduces them, confirmed with City & State his promise would be kept. The mayor’s meeting and agreement unveiling comes just in time, with Parker stating that the legislation will be introduced on October 24. 

In an interview with City & State, Squilla said a variety of issues – from affordable housing and zoning to historical preservation and small business protection – are being considered as part of the legislative package and any community-benefit agreement made with the Chinatown neighborhood. 

“The cultural aspect was one of the major things (residents) want to hold onto. When you go down to the specifics (with) congestion, traffic, parking, transportation – how all that would work – there are major concerns,” Squilla said prior to Wednesday’s public meeting, noting that concerns could be addressed in the community benefit agreement or companion bills to the arena legislative package. “We've had over 20 meetings with either community members (and) stakeholders to listen to all those concerns. The proof in the pudding will be if any of those concerns are addressed once the legislation is introduced. And I think that's our job, once we get the legislation, to see what's included, what's not, and what needs to be added.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Chinatown and community group leaders chose not to attend the meeting as a protest against a project they say does not consider community input. “It’s a rushed, haphazard process,” Vivian Chang, executive director of advocacy group Asian Americans United, said. “This is the third last-minute meeting she’s called in as many weeks.”

The Sixers have said that should the related legislation passed by the end of this year, the team’s plan would be to start demolishing the western third of the Fashion District in 2026.