Wash West residents strongly oppose downtown Sixers arena in neighborhood vote

Washington Square West residents who participated in a community survey voted overwhelmingly against the Sixers’ plan to build a new basketball arena in Center City.

The results were 77.4% opposed and 12.9% in favor, the rest neutral or undecided in the survey conducted by the neighborhood civic association. A total of 412 people responded.

The association board released the results during its Tuesday night meeting on Zoom but took no official stance on the arena. The board has been criticized by some residents for hearing months of presentations from the principals but making no statement for or against.

“The arena will be built before you decide,” one person said in the Zoom chat on Tuesday.

The neighborhood is one of two big residential communities, with Chinatown, that’s certain to be affected by the $1.55 billion project.

Chinatown polls show that opposition there tops 90%. Five other groups representing residents and voters in Center City and South Philadelphia came out against the development in October, calling on their City Council representative, Mark Squilla, to block the project from going forward at 10th and Market Streets.

Squilla, a key player in the arena discussion, has said those closest to the site, including residents of Wash West, as it’s known, should have the greatest say in what happens there.

On Wednesday, he said that although he was not immediately aware of the survey results, they would be taken into consideration.

“We’re still following the process the stakeholders wanted,” Squilla said, “to do the [city-sponsored impact] studies before making a decision on how to go forward.”

Mark Nicastre, a spokesperson for the Sixers on arena matters, said Wednesday that although the team continues to welcome feedback from communities near the site, the civic association “acknowledged in its presentation that its polling only sampled a small group of individuals, was not reflective of the full Washington Square community, and did not represent the opinion of its board.”

The team is continuing to talk with Washington Square West community leaders about how the project can help revitalize the Market Street East area and benefit the neighborhood, he said.

The activist group No Arena Washington Square West voiced frustration with the board on Wednesday, posting on Instagram that it “can’t help but wonder if the board is functioning as a pro-arena entity.” It accused the board of ignoring an overwhelming consensus and said that “continuing to dodge questions about their position is a negligence of duty.”

Polling was conducted across 11 days in December, with the association sending email questionnaires to its 370 members and to those who attended or signed up for an earlier neighborhood discussion on the arena. It also sent surveys to everyone on its email list and shared the survey on its social-media channels.

“We did everything we could to get it out to people,” board president Tami Sortman said Tuesday.

Only Wash West residents were allowed to take part, with their addresses used as a means to confirm residency.

The survey asked one question: whether the respondent was opposed to, in favor of, undecided, or neutral about the proposed arena.

“The results are accurate,” resident Elizabeth Armour said in the Zoom chat, calling with others for the board to take a formal position on the arena.

Sortman said that more meetings with city planners and Squilla lie ahead and that the Sixers have requested a second meeting with the group.

“How will you decide how many more meetings you need to have before you take a position as a board?” asked resident Katie Garth, who is active in No Arena Washington Square West. “If the civic [board] is choosing not to take the position of the neighborhood, perhaps the individuals on the civic board need to share with the neighborhood their personal views, so we can understand the disconnect.”

In June, the civic association heard from Sixers project leaders and from representatives of Comcast Spectacor, the team’s landlord at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia. Chinatown organizations and POWER Interfaith addressed the association in October. In November, a consultant conducting the city’s community-impact study shared her initial findings with the neighborhood, and in early December, the association held an in-person, residents-only discussion on the arena.

Board member Casey Kuklick, who supports the project, said Tuesday that the board did its best in conducting the survey, but the final tally was small and not scientifically accurate.

Others said the survey, while not a professional poll, was widely distributed and its outcome clear. About 16,225 people live in the neighborhood.

No Arena Washington Square West has raised concerns about traffic, trash, crowds, and parking, but even more so about the future of development on Market Street East and in the city itself. Building a downtown arena, the group notes, is a decision that will affect the city for decades.

The Sixers arena would sit on the northern border of Wash West, on the footprint of Market to Filbert and 10th to 11th Streets, claiming the now-empty Greyhound bus station and part of the struggling Fashion District mall. It would abut Chinatown at Cuthbert Street.

The Sixers say their 18,500-seat arena would attract shoppers and diners, encourage business development, and increase foot traffic in the Market Street East area. They estimate the venue would host 150 games and events a year.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has spoken positively about the team’s plans, as has organized labor, which supported her election. The Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity formally endorsed the project, saying it offers jobs and business opportunities to Black residents and to the city overall.

The team plans to open the arena in 2031, when its lease expires at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers say the downtown arena will be privately financed, and although they are open to state and federal funding, no city dollars will be sought. All involved are awaiting the release of city-sponsored studies on an arena’s economic and community impact, which have been delayed.