What’s next for the 76ers arena in Center City?

Now that Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has announced that a deal has been reached to put the 76ers new arena in Center City, some community members are still stunned by the news.

Community leaders in Chinatown say they’re worried about what the mayor’s decision could mean for their home.

“With no warning whatsoever, we got this announcement,” said Mohan Seshadri, executive director of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance.

“It’s a shame and for us, this really goes to show that this whole process has really been a sham from the beginning,” Seshadri said.

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.”

In a statement to Action News at 10 on PHL, the 76ers said:

“We are grateful to Mayor Parker and her team for their time and diligence in evaluating our proposal and look forward to advancing to the next steps with City Council.”

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.”

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.”

In a SportsRadio interview on 94WIP, retired former Eagle Jason Kelce put his two cents in on the proposal.

“I really hate it,” Kelce said.

However, Kelce added that he believes people will eventually enjoy the arena.

“When it does get built in Center City and all these people are displaced, at the end of the day people are probably gonna love it,” he said.

In a post on X , former Eagle Jason Kelce elaborated on his stance on the arena.

“To be clear, I would absolutely support the Sixers building their own arena in South Philadelphia.  The renting thing isn’t fair to them, I just hate the strong arming of the city to force an inevitable move into an area that the local residents, and vast majority of Philadelphians don’t prefer be in center city.

Again though, at the end of the day, we will all love it in 5-10 years when we have a beautiful new stadium in the heart of the city.  It just pisses me off now, with the way it’s happening, and I’m gonna be pissed for the foreseeable future at how this is being forced currently.  The threat of moving the team is bullshit, I hate it.  Admittedly I was scarred growing up in Cleveland by Art Modell and the Browns, which the city of Cleveland messed up on, but it doesn’t change that I have a strong disdain for owners making these threats with zero care for what the fans or residents who support the team want.”

The project is now in the hands of the City Council who will have to approve the legislation for construction to begin.

According to the Inquirer, legislation will then be sent to all of the Council members, where there will likely be multiple days of hearings including testimony from the public.

If the Council approves the legislation, it would go back to Parker’s desk for her to sign it into law.

As of now, only four of the 17 Council members have taken public stances on the arena, according to the Inquirer.

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.

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