City must lead on Market Street development after Sixers arena debacle | Editorial
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker tried her best to spin the collapsed deal as a win-win, but the Center City arena proposal turned out to be a giant waste of time and money.
About that Sixers arena on East Market Street … never mind.
After more than two and a half years of contentious fights, protests, negotiations, town halls, public hearings, and studies, the 76ers are staying in South Philadelphia.
The surprise turn of events came less than a month after City Council voted 12-5 to approve the $1.3 billion arena on Market Street. But the Sixers ditched that plan and struck a deal with Comcast to build an arena at the sports complex.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker tried her best to spin the collapsed deal as a win-win at a news conference on Monday, but there was no denying the Center City arena proposal turned out to be a giant waste of time and money for everyone.
Perhaps the Sixers staying in South Philly will be for the best. But right now, it looks like a fiasco.
In a city of 1.5 million, Parker spent much of the first year of her term catering to the whims of three billionaires. Meanwhile, the residents of Chinatown were put through needless turmoil and alarm while the rest of the city was divided over the project.
In the end, Comcast got what it wanted. And everyone else got on board.
Parker admitted the change of plans was a “curveball.” Indeed, she and Council were left out of the “real” negotiations between the Sixers and Comcast that began last month.
For years, David Adelman, one of the Sixers owners who led the Center City arena effort, was adamant that the team was leaving South Philadelphia because it wanted its own arena.
As the Market Street plans moved forward, the Sixers and Comcast were at odds. The Sixers rebuffed an earlier proposal to partner with Comcast to build a new arena, only to end up joining forces.
It appears the NBA helped the Sixers see the light.
In July, NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast, announced an 11-year deal to broadcast NBA games at an annual cost of $2.45 billion. Rather than have Comcast and the Sixers fighting, the NBA likely helped bring them together.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts hinted as much when he said the cable giant’s “partnership with the NBA on NBC was fortuitous.”
Roberts, Adelman, along with the other Sixers owners, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, joined Parker and City Council President Kenyatta Johnson at the news conference to show they were now all on the same page. Even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver joined in remotely.
The new deal calls for the Sixers and Comcast Spectacor to partner on a new arena scheduled to open in 2031. Comcast is also taking a minority stake in Sixers, which the company used to own.
The Sixers and Comcast also plan to add retail and restaurants at the sports complex. When that will happen was unclear, but Parker hinted that no tax dollars would be included. She compared the plan with the Battery Atlanta, a mixed-use development next to the Braves ballpark. What will become of the Wells Fargo Center was also not discussed.
Many other questions remained unanswered, as well.
» READ MORE: City Council needs to take the Sixers arena proposal seriously | Editorial
The Sixers and Comcast said they were still committed to helping to revitalize East Market Street, but no details were announced. Indeed, Parker did not even know what was planned.
Also left unmentioned is what will become of the struggling Fashion District the Sixers arena was supposed to partially replace. The looming departure of Macy’s means the economic fortunes along Market Street will likely get worse before they get better.
Perhaps Parker and City Council can learn from this public humiliation. Rather than wait for projects to magically materialize, the city should work with city planners, business leaders, and community members to develop a master plan for East Market Street as well as Chinatown.
The plan should include incentives to help spur development that will revitalize what was once the city’s main retail corridor. Replicating the success of the mixed-use development along the 1100 block of Market Street by National Real Estate Advisors is a good place to start.
But Parker and City Council need to lead rather than follow. Otherwise, just as with the Sixers arena, they will be the last to know what is going on.