The developers of the proposed new stadium for the Philadelphia 76ers believe that a series of reports issued on Monday are good news for the project. Whether they’re right or not depends on your definition of “good news.”
By Denise Clay-Murray
By the time you read this, Philadelphia City Council will be finishing up its summer vacation and heading back into City Hall’s Room 400 to start the new session.
When they enter their offices, they’ll find something that the entire city has been anxiously waiting for since late last year: The impact studies for 76 Place, the proposed downtown stadium for Your Philadelphia 76ers!
(I felt that announcing the 76ers like they would at the Wells Fargo Center would be apropos here.)
In case you’ve been hiding in a cave for the last year or so, the Philadelphia 76ers have proposed an 18,500-seat arena that would sit on top of the Jefferson Regional Rail station on 10th Street. The $1.55 billion development would also include apartments, retail, and other entertainment.
The Sixers have said that it would require no taxpayer funding, but as we have all found out through the city’s 10-year-tax abatement, tax breaks for development have a cost, even if it isn’t a direct one.
While the stadium won’t be in Chinatown, the community will be the most impacted by the development, which is why they have been the most staunchly opposed. Mayor Cherelle Parker met with a group of Chinatown’s business leaders before releasing the studies to the public Monday night.
The studies were supposed to be released in December, and they look at every aspect of the 76 Place project including community and economic impact, the project’s design, and parking and transportation.
Here’s some of the highlights:
When the developers of 76 Place proposed the project, they said that the project would provide $1.5 billion in net tax revenue for the city and the school district over the 30 years, the stadium would be in operation and based on a study that they never released. However, according to the studies released Monday, the stadium would generate much less money — $390 million — than the team believes.
One of the fears of Chinatown residents is that their neighborhood would meet the same fate as Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown, which is still technically in place but has changed dramatically. According to the studies released on Monday, Chinatown won’t experience direct housing impacts, gentrification, and a loss of cultural identity for the neighborhood is possible should the stadium be built according to the Community Impact study.
While it’s possible for 40% of Sixers fans to use public transit while 40% continue to drive in for games, that’s not written in stone, according to the transportation and parking study. If more than 40% of fans drive to games, gridlock could result at certain intersections. What everyone needs to remember is that Jefferson Station is named for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, which ls located nearby.
One of the arguments that proponents of 76 Place have made is that the city needs another stadium to give event promoters another place other for big shows in addition the Wells Fargo Center, where the Sixers currently play. The economic impact study shows that the new arena would lead to 53 additional events, including 35 additional concerts. In contrast, a recent study released by Comcast Spectacor, owners of the Wells Fargo Center, showed that Philadelphia would see a mere eight to 12 additional concerts annually.
The Sixers view the results as proof that there’s room for more than one arena in the city and believe that they’re favorable. But you’ll have to forgive me if it looks more like they’re mixed and lean more toward a no than a yes.
From left); Shavonnia Corbin-Johnson, VP of civic affairs, 76ers; David Gould, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) Prudential Center, chief diversity and impact officer, and Phila. Branch NAACP president Catherine Hicks surround 76 Devcorp chair David Adelman as he speaks to the audience during the 76 Place news conference earlier this year.
Photo: Rejean Wilson
For their part, the City Council and Mayor Parker’s office are both taking a wait-and-see approach regarding the results and what they mean for the project itself. Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose district includes both Chinatown and the proposed stadium, has promised that any legislation will be reviewed for 30 days before it’s introduced for a vote.
Even with that, it stands to be contentious. On the one hand, organizations like Save Chinatown and Asians United are fighting to keep the stadium out. It’s hard to bet against them because, let’s be honest, if they weren’t effective, both Citizens Bank Park and Rivers Casino would be located in Chinatown. But they’re not.
On the other side, you have the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, and the Philadelphia NAACP supporting the stadium. The unions are looking at the possibility of jobs for their members and the Black community is looking at the economic possibilities connected to the project.
Meanwhile, Comcast Spectacor is partnering with the Phillies, Eagles and Flyers in a proposed development that would expand its South Philadelphia footprint by adding hotels, apartment buildings, and other entertainment with Citizens Bank Park, Lincoln Financial Field, and the Wells Fargo Center as its anchors. The Sixers have said to whoever will listen that they’re not interested in being a part of that project, although they have been asked.
Now, putting something together that serves everyone isn’t impossible. While attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, I went to Wrigleyville. Wrigleyville, for those who don’t know, is the neighborhood anchored by Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs.
It’s well put together. Wrigleyville has hotels, shops, restaurants, places to live, and public transportation that operates 24 hours a day. I know that people probably drive there, but I didn’t see a lot of automobile traffic.
I went there with a friend who looked at it and thought that the Sixers could do something similar with 76 Place, but I’m not sure about that for a few reasons.
One, Chicago has better public transportation. As I said, the trains run for 24 hours. That’s because the state has a Regional Transportation Authority that gives the Chicago Transportation Authority money in addition to the fares it collects. And because it’s relatively clean, and people want to use it, car traffic is minimal.
Two, Wrigley Field was there first. Unlike 76 Place, which will impact an already established neighborhood, the Wrigleyville neighborhood sprung up around the stadium. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
And three, and this is most important, the neighborhood that the Sixers want to insert 76 Place into lets you know in no uncertain terms that it doesn’t want it there. What I’ve noticed is that most of the people rooting for it live somewhere other than Chinatown.
It’s easy to support something that has the potential to disrupt a neighborhood when it’s not your neighborhood. Having lived in the Stadium District in South Philly for a while, I can tell you that I never felt more trapped in my house than I did when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008. It was nuts.
While there are no easy answers here, the questions are sure to come up as City Council gavels into session next Thursday. In fact, I will predict that it’ll permeate this entire session of Council.
Hopefully, it won’t suck all of the air out of the room because Philadelphia has other things it needs to tackle, and few of them are connected to a basketball team that should probably use its stadium money to get the pieces needed to get out of the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
(Editor’s Note: SUN publisher Catherine Hicks is the president of the Philadelphia NAACP.)
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