August 28, 2024
Provided image/Gensler
The investors behind the proposed 76ers arena have set a 2024 deadline for legislative approval. City Council would need to pass bills relating to zoning, real estate and streets soon to stick to that schedule.
All eyes are back on the 76ers arena proposal after the release of the city's four impact studies Monday.
The studies — which looked at potential effects on community, traffic, economy and design — have renewed discussions about the feasibility and future of the project. 76 DevCo, the private investor group behind the proposal, is seeking to build an arena on the 4.25-acre site on Market Street between 10th and 11th streets and bounded by Cuthbert Street. The proposal needs to progress soon in order to open by 2031, when the team's lease with the Wells Fargo Center ends. The group's own timeline has a 2024 deadline for entitlements and approvals.
Those approvals must come from City Council, which holds the keys to the necessary legislation for zoning and other legal red tape. But what exactly does 76 DevCo need to move forward? A lot of bills, it turns out.
According to the city's community impact study, the group will need to win the councilmembers' approval on ordinances across four categories: zoning, streets, finance and real estate. The study lays out up to 11 bills necessary for adoption, and it concedes there could be more.
On the zoning front, the project needs an ordinance that would permit the arena's use, set up a master plan and apply parking requirements. Existing city code would also need to be amended to update the boundaries of areas in Market East subject to regulations.
Up to three streets ordinances are also required, including bills to allow barriers in traffic lanes and other blockades to expand the existing Fashion District bridge over 10th Street. The blocks of Filbert Street that the arena would swallow up would also be removed from the city plan.
The financial ordinances concern the Fashion District, since the proposed arena would take over part of the mall. Back when it was in development, the Fashion District received investments from state initiatives like the Tax Increment Financing program. Laws scaling back these benefits to the "remaining portions of the mall" would be required before the arena construction could commence.
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76 DevCo will need up to four real estate ordinances to set up a lease and development agreement with Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development on the property and establish "air rights" — the ability to use or build in the space above a property — to 10th Street Bridge. The team and SEPTA would also need to establish real estate agreements, since the arena would sit atop Jefferson Station.
These bills would be introduced by Councilmember Mark Squilla, who represents the district where the arena would be built. His office said via email that the bills would likely be introduced at the same time as a package, if the councilmember decides to move forward. Squilla has long promised to share the bills with all stakeholders at least 30 days prior to any introduction. His office said he will need to review the legislation before he makes any decision.
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