A man walks through the Chinatown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
PHILADELPHIA— The Philadelphia 76ers have a new teammate in their bid to build a new $1.3 billion arena downtown.
Mayor Cherelle Parker announced Wednesday that she has forged a deal with team owners to keep the NBA franchise in town and will send it to city council. The decision comes despite objections from nearby Chinatown residents and just weeks after New Jersey’s governor offered $400 million in tax breaks to build the site across the river in Camden.
“This is an historic agreement,” Parker said in a video posted on the social platform X. “I wholeheartedly believe this is the right deal for the people of Philadelphia. To the people of Chinatown, please know that I hear you. We have the best Chinatown in the United States, and I am committed to working together to support it.”
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Team owners say their planned 76 Place would improve a struggling retail corridor near City Hall and capitalize on the city’s public transit. They have vowed not to renew the lease on their current home, a circa 1996 arena in the city’s South Philadelphia sports complex, when their lease runs out in 2031.
The team now rents the arena from Comcast Spectacor, which also owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, who also play there. Instead, the Sixers’ owners want their own, more modern facility, one they could also rent out for concerts and other events.
Josh Harris, a managing partner of the ownership group, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, has said the Sixers will build a privately funded facility that “strengthens ties within the local community through investments that prioritize equity, inclusivity and accessibility.”
On Wednesday, a spokesperson said the owners were grateful for Parker’s support of their proposal “and look forward to advancing to the next steps with city council.”
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Chinatown activists who have felt the squeeze of development repeatedly since at least the 1990s had urged the mayor to reject the plan. They are only now getting some relief from a sunken expressway that cleaved their community in two in 1991, in the form of a $159 million grant to build a park over the six-lane highway and reconnect the area.
Parker, who inherited the 76ers issue when she took office in January, had promised to consider their input. Activists complained Wednesday that she ignored it. Some of them took to City Hall with homemade lanterns to “shine a light” on the potential consequences. They say the project will increase vehicle traffic in their pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and force vulnerable residents — older people, low-income families and new immigrants — out.
Debbie Wei, of the Save Chinatown Coalition, said the mayor alone should not decide “whether our community should live or die.”
“This fight is far from over,” she said in a statement. “We are going to fight this, and we are going to the mat. It’s on.”
Comcast Spectacor Chairman and CEO Daniel J. Hilferty said they will keep the door open for the 76ers as the plan unfolds while working with the Phillies to expand entertainment venues and jobs at the South Philadelphia complex.
“Either way, we always want what is best for Philadelphia,” Hilferty said in a statement.