PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have decided not to build a $1.3 billion downtown stadium, a surprising move that comes just weeks after the team received city council approval for the controversial project.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday that several council members had confirmed the change in plans. The team reached an agreement with Comcast Spectacor to remain in the city’s sports stadium district, the newspaper said, but no further details about the new proposal have been released.
The 76ers, the mayor’s office and Comcast Spectator, owner of the Wells Fargo Center, where the team currently plays, did not respond Sunday to requests for comment. The team leases the arena from Comcast Spectacor, which also owns the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, who also play there.
Those who oppose the stadium’s move 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 are glad 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 the city’s leaders, stakeholders and residents,” Gauthier said. and Rue in a statement.
The 76ers’ downtown development plan had pitted working-class Philadelphians against each other, and the team had lobbied the City Council to consider a “half-baked” proposal that left open questions about the section’s gridlock and displacement. of the city’s Chinatown, they said.
The council had voted Dec. 19 to approve the downtown arena after more than two years of heated debate over the proposal, and the NBA team’s owners had hoped to move to what would be called 76 Place by 2031. The council’s vote The advice came despite vocal opposition from nearby Chinatown residents and other activists.
“I’m so angry right now that 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 like they used me 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 “landmark, game-changing economic development project.” Supporters hoped the 18,500-seat stadium would help revive a struggling commercial corridor called Market East, which runs from City Hall to the Liberty Bell. The area has struggled for years despite redevelopment efforts.
The team’s owner, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, had pushed for city approval before the end of the year so it could meet its planned opening date. He had promised not to ask the city for any construction funding, although he was free to seek state and federal funds. Instead of property taxes, he would have paid about $6 million in annual payments.
Opponents feared the arena would lead to gridlock on game days, as well as gentrification and rising rents in the area.
The Chinatown community has fought a series of development proposals 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.
