Comcast and 76ers ownership purchase two swaths of East Market to redevelop

Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment (HBSE), which owns the Philadelphia 76ers, and Comcast have purchased a string of properties between Ninth and 11th along East Market Street.

The sales are a visible sign that the companies still have active development plans for the beleaguered corridor where the 76ers abandoned their proposal to build a Center City arena.

From 2022 until early this year, HBSE had planned a new home for the team on East Market Street, dubbed 76 Place, with accompanying residential and commercial development that would have included the recently purchased properties.

But after a contentious political battle, including an enabling vote in City Council backed by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in December, the team stunned observers by abruptly calling off the plans. Instead the Sixers’ owners announced a renewed alliance with Comcast Spectacor, which owns the 76ers’ arena in South Philadelphia. The team will stay in the stadium district, albeit in a new arena.

Some believed all of HBSE’s East Market Street development plans would be abandoned or minimized as the corporate behemoths shifted their arena focus back to South Philadelphia, but the companies point to their acquisitions on East Market Street as proof that they are still committed to Center City.

“Since announcing our partnership, both the 76ers and Comcast have been clear and consistent: We want to be part of the process to reenergize East Market Street, once America’s premier commercial corridor and the bridge between City Hall and Independence Hall,” David Adelman, chairman of the joint venture between the two companies, said in a statement.

The companies spent $56 million overall to acquire the properties but declined to provide specifics about their plans for East Market Street.

“We will be developing our plans for the properties we just acquired over the coming months, and we look forward to sharing those plans more publicly at the right time,” said Adelman, a limited partner in HBSE and a residential developer for students in Philadelphia. He was the public face of the Center City arena proposal.

The string of low-rise 20th-century commercial buildings that the companies just acquired encompass some 112,000 square feet and were home to chains like Subway, H&R Block, as well as lower-rent tenants like cash-for-gold stores. Most have been boarded over since the late 2010s, including the site of a former Robinson department store designed by famed architect Victor Gruen.

Jacklin Rhoads, vice president of corporate communications for the 76ers, said the companies are not pursuing additional properties on East Market Street at this time.

The property at 920-934 Market was owned by A&H Acquisitions Corp., a real estate group based in New York City and led by Alex Adjmi. Its Philadelphia footprint is small, with only 1528 Chestnut St. still listed on its website.

Last year Adjmi’s East Market Street properties were slated for redevelopment by HBSE when the Center City arena deal was still on. At that time, 340 residential units were planned for the site along with 114 parking spaces, and 26,000 square feet of retail.

This summer, HBSE and Comcast paid $23.5 million for the properties. A representative of A&H Acquisitions confirmed the sale but declined to comment.

Properties at 936 and 938 were owned by different out-of-state companies, RV Properties and 938 Market LLC, and sold for $7.75 million.

Farther west, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) acquired 1010-1024 in 2014 as part of its larger plans for East Market Street, including the transformation of the timeworn Gallery Mall into the higher-end Fashion District.

At that time, 1010-1016 E. Market was a 22,000-square-foot former Reebok store, which PREIT acquired for $6.2 million. The neighboring building, the former Robinson department store, was purchased for $8 million.

When the Fashion District foundered amid the pandemic and PREIT went bankrupt, its development partner Macerich acquired its East Market Street properties along with the Fashion District.

HBSE and Comcast paid Macerich $10.75 million for the properties. The California-based company did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this year, HBSE and Comcast also closed on the former Rite Aid building at 1000-1008 Market St., the Philadelphia Business Journal reported last week. That property was owned by an ownership group that included former Goldman Sachs executive Jeanette Loeb and members of her family. It went for $15 million.

Under the 76 Place-era plans, the 1000 block would have been replaced with 28,000 square feet of retail and 380 apartments.