Postponed: Philly Council delays Sixers arena vote twice, pushes vote to Thursday

The series of events that took place in Philadelphia City Hall Wednesday – from the boisterous back-and-forth between Philadelphia 76ers arena proponents and opponents inside City Council chambers to the now-twice delayed Council vote – was a microcosm of the months-long process that led to Council pushing the hotly-anticipated Sixers arena vote to Thursday morning. 

City Council remains hopeful it can pass the legislative package needed to approve the arena out of committee and set the stage for it to receive final approval by Dec. 19 – a deadline the team told the city it must meet in order for development to begin on schedule for the 2031 season. Meanwhile, opponents of the arena have called that timeline “arbitrary” and are pressing members to delay a vote until next year.

Much like the public and community hearings held over the last few months, Wednesday’s hearing was punctuated by loud outbursts from both supporters and detractors, from the buildings trades to the Save Chinatown Coalition. 

Critics of the arena held up signs featuring the Monopoly Man with the question: “Who’s happy with this deal?” – a clear reference to the belief, held by many opposed to the plan, that it was done for and by the team’s wealthy owners and city officials behind closed doors. 

And before Council entered the chamber Wednesday morning, those in attendance on both sides of the debate made their voices heard – with opponents chanting, “Hey hey! Ho ho! These billionaires have got to go!” as union workers in the gallery responded with a “Build it” chant. 

Council’s Committee of the Whole, which is composed of all 17 members, briefly convened shortly after 9 a.m. for a scheduled vote on legislation that would give the project the go-ahead, but then quickly adjourned until 4 p.m. in order to continue negotiations between city leaders and the team on the primary issue holding up the arena – the Community Benefits Agreement.

Major sticking points continue to be development of a $1.3 billion arena in the Market East area near Center City, the potential impacts of an arena on Chinatown and the surrounding neighborhoods – and the demands it would place on a struggling SEPTA system. 

But the CBA – local investments in the form of city programs and business initiatives originally proposed with a $50 million price tag – has been a significant hurdle standing in the way of the arena deal’s approval. 

Council reportedly agreed to a $100 million CBA that came to light Tuesday night, and Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office distributed a list of amendments on Wednesday morning that would double the project’s original CBA to $100 million and strengthen workforce diversity requirements, among other changes to the legislative package. 

The $100 million CBA would include a $6.4 million increase in funding for the proposed special services district, which would provide public safety and other services; a $9 million increase for housing support in Chinatown; an $8.4 million increase in aid for businesses impacted by the arena’s construction; $5 million in new funding for a Chinatown Community Land Trust; and $5 million in new funding for the Chinatown Business grant program. 

After the committee met briefly Wednesday morning, Councilmember Jim Harrity told reporters that more time was needed to come to an agreement with the team. Harrity said that Council would agree to a $100 million CBA, but that the Sixers organization had not yet come to an agreement near that figure. 

“This is about them trying to get the best deal for the citizens of Philadelphia. And to give some more security to the residents and businesses in Chinatown,” Harrity told reporters Wednesday morning. “We’re never gonna make everybody happy.”

City Councilmember At-Large Rue Landau, one of three councilmembers to voice opposition to the arena throughout the process, told City Cast Philly that the “rushed process” is among the biggest concerns for her. 

“We’re being asked to vote on something we do not have all of the details (about),” Landau said, noting that questions remain about an appropriate amount of community support in the CBA and for SEPTA. “Structurally, we don’t have a final design…There’s a lot of ‘trust us’ coming out (from the team).”

Landau admitted there are “not enough votes” to stop development at this point, but there are deals that can be made to sweeten the deal as much as possible for the surrounding community. 

“The problem is, the package will pass, so the real challenge right now is to get much more money from Sixers to the community and to SEPTA to offset all the effects that will happen from this,” she told City Cast Philly. “This is on a path that’s pretty apparent at this point.”

And while most council members, even those skeptical of the current proposal, seemed confident a deal would be reached Wednesday, an agreement between city and Sixers leaders didn’t come to fruition. 

A spokesperson for Johnson said the leader of the chamber was still in negotiations with the Sixers as of 4:45 p.m., long after the committee was scheduled to vote at 4. Shortly thereafter, Johnson came back to announce the committee will once again adjourn until 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning as negotiations continue. 

Johnson has said he intends to add an extra session of Council on Dec. 19 to ensure enough time for the arena deal to pass. Council would need to pass the legislation out of committee on Thursday in order to get a first reading on the Council floor done this week. The first reading must happen at least a week before a final vote, meaning Dec. 12 is the last day legislation could get approved out of committee and get passed out of council by Dec. 19 – the extra day of session.