(The Center Square) – The 76ers will be staying in the Philadelphia Sports Complex while Harris Blitzer and Comcast Spectacor still intend to develop Market East in City Center, only without an arena.
Details on the funding and cost of the arena were not announced.
The companies, team, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the deal Monday after the team and Parker previously pushed for a $1.3 billion arena at Market East.
“We have to be concerned about making sure Philadelphia is on sound fiscal footing,” Parker said.
The new arena at the Philadelphia Sports Complex is set to open in 2031 and will be home to both the 76ers and Flyers.
The Sports Complex is also home to the Phillies and Eagles.
“Philadelphia will now benefit from two developments instead of one,” said 76ers co-owner Josh Harris. “At the Sports Complex, we will work together to build the very best arena in the country.”
The Philadelphia City Council previously agreed to a payment in lieu of taxes model at Market East where the team was set to pay $6 million annually in PILOT payments and $10 in rent during a 30-year lease while the city combined four parcels of land for the previously planned arena development.
The No Arena Coalition responded to the news, saying that the change of plans exposes the “sham of a process” that led to the Center City proposal approval.
“We were clear from day one that it was dangerous to play in the viper pit with billionaires, but City Hall toyed with the snakes, and they got bit,” the coalition said in a statement. “Twelve of 17 Councilmembers turned their backs on decades of research on the false promise of stadium developments, common sense, their voters, and the 70% of Philadelphians who opposed this arena.
“This was always bigger than one arena or one neighborhood. We celebrate that Chinatown is safe for now, but nobody’s home is safe as long as billionaire developers are planning our city and politicians are playing their game.”
Parker said that the city will now “fast track the master planning” for the Market East project rather than waiting for arena construction.
