Mayor Parker details $50M community benefits agreement negotiated with Sixers; legislation for new arena released
The Sixers hope to build and open a new Center City stadium by 2031, when their lease at the Wells Fargo Center expires.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is holding a news conference to release details about the deal for the Sixers' new arena in Center City.
The Parker administration on Wednesday unveiled legislation that would enable the construction of the new arena.
Last week, Parker backed the Sixers' $1.55 billion proposal to build a new stadium on a portion of the Fashion District mall.
The Sixers want the new area open for the 2031 season, when their lease at the Wells Fargo Center expires. Here's what has to happen.
The new arena is opposed by many Chinatown leaders and residents, as well as some sports fans concerned about traffic and logistics.
Watch Mayor Parker live here
Mayor Cherelle Parker has unveiled the terms of the city’s deal with the Sixers to build a new arena
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday revealed the terms of the agreement she negotiated with the 76ers for the team’s proposed Center City arena and released drafts of the legislation City Council will need to authorize if the facility is to get built.
“I truly am proud having made this decision and negotiated an agreement,” Parker said, “that will definitely ensure that our Sixers are staying home right here in Philadelphia, where they should be.”
The deal includes an economic opportunity plan to ensure the workforce for the arena’s construction and operations is diverse, a $50 million community benefits agreement meant to blunt the impact of the development on affected neighborhoods, and a provision for the team to make annual payments in lieu of taxes averaging $6 million per year in exchange for not having to pay property taxes.
Public meeting on Sixers arena agreement has ended
The meeting concluded shortly before 8:45 p.m., with a series of arena backers praising Parker and her leadership and cheering the benefits they believe the project will bring to Philadelphia.
— Jeff Gammage
Arena presentation sparks hope for a WNBA expansion team in Philly
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker sparked new hope among local women’s basketball fans for a WNBA expansion team by claiming in the PowerPoint presentation at her news conference Wednesday night that the 76ers “expect to submit a bid for a WNBA team in Philadelphia.”
Parker also spoke from the podium on the subject. She said that a few years ago, during her time as City Council’s majority leader, she met with “a dynamic group of women who had been working for a very, very long time to put together the potential for Philadelphia to see a team one day.”
She then went to then-Gov. Tom Wolf, Mayor Jim Kenney, and City Council president Darrell L. Clarke, and got them to put their support behind that bid effort.
Audience dwindles as speakers outline specifics; mayor says it is crucial to 'go over every detail of the plan'
At least a third of the audience has departed, as city officials delved into the history of Market East and explored specific approvals and reviews required for the arena to go forward.
"I see the crowd getting thin," the mayor said, adding that it was crucial to go over every detail of the plan.
— Jeff Gammage
Parker administration intends to develop 'master plan' to address impacts on Chinatown
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's administration intends to develop a “master plan” for Chinatown that would address existing challenges and potential impacts from the proposed arena.
According to the administration, the city will look at adjusting zoning to preserve Chinatown, investing in a new recreational space, and developing a cultural center.
Parker’s top officials detailed plans for the neighborhood, which has been vehemently opposed to the Sixers arena proposal. Chinatown residents and supporters say the impacts of the arena will negatively impact the community through displacement, gentrification, and traffic congestion.
— Anna Orso
Agreement includes oversight committee to monitor Sixers compliance with economic opportunity plan
The Sixers have agreed to set up an oversight committee that will monitor its compliance with the terms of its economic opportunity plan, including adhering to diversity goals for hiring and contracting.
According to the agreement, the Sixers will need to make regular reports on those participation goals.
The oversight committee will include:
No Arena Washington Square West group also skips mayor's meeting
Members of No Arena Washington Square West, the community group, stayed away from the mayor’s presentation.
“No good-faith efforts have been made by this administration to truly engage the project’s opponents,” the organization said in a statement. “By announcing yet another last-minute meeting, Mayor Parker continues to exclude community stakeholders from her plans.”
Washington Square West, along with Chinatown, is one of two big residential neighborhoods sure to be impacted by the arena. On Wednesday the Washington Square West Civic Association came out against the arena, urging City Council to vote down the legislation.
— Jeff Gammage
Sixers agreement allows taxpayer backing if city subsidizes a future sports venue for another team
The agreement Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's administration reached with the Sixers includes a provision that could allow the team to receive local taxpayer backing in the future, but only in the event that the city subsidizes a different Philly sports facility after the proposed basketball arena gets approved.
According to the Parker administration, the “proportional benefit” applies only to new or existing sports or entertainment facilities that have between 5,000 and 25,000 seats. It does not cover venues owned by nonprofits, universities, or the city itself.
That means that, of the major sports teams' facilities, the provision will likely only apply to the Flyers because baseball and football stadiums are usually much larger.
Details released on $50 million community benefits agreement negotiated with the Sixers
The city has negotiated a $50 million community benefits agreement with the Sixers, of which half will go to impacted neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of the proposed project at 10th and Market Streets.
The agreement includes:
- $3 million to start a Chinatown small business lending fund (the city will look to raise an additional $10 to 15 million to seed the fund)
- $1.6 million in grants to businesses disrupted by construction
- $2 million for neighborhood-based businesses that want to work with the arena, such as concessioners
- $4.1 million for new security cameras and lighting around the arena, as well as the creation of a safety substation for Philadelphia Police and other law enforcement
- $1.25 million to expand PHL Taking Care of Business, a commercial corridor cleaning program, in the area
- $3 million to incentivize public transit use
- $7 million to support extended year schooling, a key priority of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker
— Anna Orso
City will get average of $6 million annually from Sixers under proposed agreement, Parker says
The 76ers will pay the city an average of $6 million a year for the next 30 years as part of the team’s agreement with the city, should it be approved by City Council, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announced Wednesday.
The payments will be made in lieu of paying property taxes and as a “use and occupancy” payment.
Parker said the payments are more than double those paid by prior local arenas and stadiums.
— Anna Orso
» READ MORE: Philly stadium owners don’t pay property taxes. Here’s what that means for the Sixers’ arena proposal.
Mayor Parker says she will work to make Chinatown thrive alongside new arena
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday vowed to embark on “a city-led focus on Chinatown that we've never had before” and said the arena is “not being built in Chinatown proper.”
Parker said she has recently encountered people who have expressed concern that Chinatown will be demolished — Parker said that notion “is a lie.”
Chinatown residents and supporters have vehemently opposed the arena, which is proposed to be placed at 10th and Market Streets, adjacent to the historic neighborhood.
Hundreds attend mayor's meeting and applaud proposed city deal
Hundreds of people crowded a convention center ballroom, with scores of them wearing neon yellow and orange union T-shirts.
Most in the room applauded as the mayor listed the gains she said the arena would bring — including jobs, tax revenue and a stronger, healthier Chinatown.
— Jeff Gammage
Parker says her administration has achieved 'best sports facility agreement in Philadelphia's history'
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday framed her administration’s agreement with the 76ers to construct a new arena in Center City as “the best sports facility agreement in Philadelphia’s history.”
The mayor, who delivered her first remarks since backing the project publicly last week, touted the potential for the creation of 1,000 construction and operations jobs and a $50 million community benefits agreement expected to support nearby communities.
The Sixers have agreed to finance the construction of the $1.55 billion project without city dollars. Parker described that arrangement as “unprecedented” among local sports facilities.
Mayor Parker unveils legislation needed to build Sixers arena
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration on Wednesday unveiled nearly a dozen pieces of legislation that would enable the 76ers to construct a new arena in Center City.
The legislative package can be found on the city’s website and was made public minutes before Parker was expected to deliver remarks at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, her first about the arena since last week, when she for the first time backed the $1.55 billion proposal.
The nine bills and two resolutions include land transfers, zoning shifts, and an arrangement for the Sixers to pay the city PILOTs, or payments in lieu of property taxes.
Chinatown leaders have chosen not to attend mayor's meeting
Chinatown leaders have chosen not to attend the mayor's public meeting, a way to show their dissatisfaction with an approval process they believe has not included the views of the community, said Vivian Chang, executive director of Asian Americans United, the advocacy group.
"It's a rushed, haphazard process," she said. "This is the third last-minute meeting she's called in as many weeks."
— Jeff Gammage
Washington Square West civic group votes to oppose Sixers’ plan for a downtown arena
The Washington Square West Civic Association has come out against the Sixers’ plan to build a Center City arena, the second of the two big, adjacent neighborhoods to oppose the project.
“We urge the City Council to vote NO,” the organization’s directing board wrote in a letter that was posted on social media Tuesday night.
The board’s stance aligns leafy Wash West, as the community is known, with the historic immigrant neighborhood of Chinatown, where large numbers have fought the Sixers’ proposal almost from the moment it was announced in July 2022.
Parker to hold news conference on Sixers Center City arena
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and members of her administration will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon, where she is expected to unveil legislation needed to complete the Sixers' new arena in Center City.
The news conference is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
Last week, Parker backed the $1.55 billion proposal to build a new arena on a portion of the Fashion District at 10th Street and Market Street.
When is the earliest the new Sixers arena in Center City would open?
The Sixers have said the new arena could open for the 2031 season if City Council approves the legislation needed to begin the project by the end of this year.
If that happens, the team’s plan would be to start demolishing the western third of the Fashion District in 2026 and begin construction in 2028.
Until then, the Sixers will continue to play in the Wells Fargo Center, which is owned by Comcast Spectacor and shared with the Flyers. The Sixers’ lease at the Wells Fargo Center expires in 2031, and Comcast Spectacor has joined the Phillies in a plan to turn much of the sports complex into a fan district.
What are the next steps for the new Sixers arena?
The project now heads to City Council, which will have to approve the legislation needed for the Sixers to begin demolition work on the site.
The point person will be City Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose district includes the proposed arena. He has previously said the public would be able to see draft versions of the bills for 30 days before he officially introduces them.
The bills will then be sent to a committee that includes all Council members, where there will likely be multiple days of hearings that include public testimony. Council members go on a winter break Dec. 12, so if the goal is to have the project approved before the end of 2024, the bills would likely need to be voted out of committee the first week of December.
Why are some residents opposed to a new Sixers arena?
The most vocal opposition to the project has come from residents in Chinatown, many of whom fear the project will dramatically change their neighborhood and cultural identity.
The proposed stadium at 10th and Market Streets would be built on the doorstep to Chinatown, and the city’s economic impact study found half of the small businesses in Chinatown would be negatively affected by the proposed arena. The report also warned that while no housing would be torn down in Chinatown, the arena’s presence could cause indirect displacement through gentrification and loss of cultural identity.
“The community meetings were all just smoke and mirrors,” said Chinatown resident Eric Lau. “I just want to make a big sign that says: ‘Cherelle Parker doesn’t care about Asian people.’”