Mayor Cherelle Parker said the city will ‘start from scratch’ on 76ers community benefits agreement
She said the city will still support Chinatown and a Market Street revitalization.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said that the city will “start from scratch” on a new community benefits agreement, canceling the hotly debated plan with the 76ers and making way for a new one now that the arena is planned for South Philadelphia.
As part of a now-defunct Center City arena deal, the 76ers had agreed to provide $60 million worth of community benefits intended to offset the project’s impacts on surrounding communities and support city programs while avoiding paying regular property taxes.
The mayor said at a news conference Monday that the city is still committed to revitalizing East Market Street and supporting Chinatown. And in a new partnership with Comcast Spectator, the 76ers pledged to support a Market Street makeover even without an arena in Center City, though a new proposal hasn’t yet been released.
“There is, formally, a fifty-fifty commitment to the development or building of a new arena in the stadium district, but also a vehicle to work solely on Market Street East,” Parker said of the two corporations.
In a turn of events from a yearslong saga over a proposed Sixers arena on the edge of Chinatown on East Market Street, the city formally announced on Monday that the Sixers arena will be planned for the stadium district in South Philadelphia in partnership with Comcast, as previously reported by The Inquirer.
City Council had just approved the arena deal for Center City last month, and that deal’s community benefits agreement dedicated $500,000 to a master plan to revitalize East Market Street, one of Parker’s flagship goals in her administration.
Parker veered between indicating that the city needs time to negotiate a new deal with the developers and that the work on the prior deal wasn’t for nothing. She said that the city has the “same amount of homework” ahead as it did for the Center City deal but also that the city has “already done” homework associated with the project.
“Everything is null and void,” she said. " … We have a lot of homework and a lot of due diligence to do before we get the ball rolling.”
Parker emphasized that the city is still committed to revitalizing East Market Street from City Hall to the Delaware River, and that the city will “fast track” and “immediately” begin the planning process. She contrasted the new sped-up effort with the old community benefits agreement — which wouldn’t have funded the Market Street master plan until 2032 — but did not explain how it would now be funded.
“We will now get moving with getting that RFP out and beginning that master planning process that, of course, will involve significant community-based input,” she said. “That — that — will happen.”
David Adelman, a 76ers co-owner, also said on Monday that the Sixers and Comcast, in their newfound partnership, are “fully committed to revitalizing the once great Market East corridor,” even though the arena is planned for South Philadelphia.
The Sixers had previously offered $50 million for the community benefits agreement for the now-defunct Center City plan, and Council asked for double that amount during negotiations. Ultimately, the developers and the city agreed to the $60 million agreement which stretched across 30 years, and amid those negotiations, Parker agreed to provide $20 million in city resources to support affordable housing in Chinatown, which the new basketball arena would have abutted.
The now-defunct Center City benefits agreement included measures such as aiding local businesses impacted by construction, supporting workforce development, creating a neighborhood security station, and providing grant money to support children in the city.
But Parker said on Monday that even though the Center City deal is off, the city will still commit $20 million to Chinatown.
“We will make good on that commitment so no one needs to question that,” she said. “That’s important, just because this partnership comes and, you know, now that the arena will be built in South Philly, nothing about that commitment changes.”
Council President Kenyatta Johnson said that with a new agreement, the city will still ensure “Black and brown, and women-owned businesses have a seat at the table” both in South Philly and along East Market Street.
“One thing I can tell you about President Johnson and Mayor Parker is they’re tough, like they’re gonna represent your interest well,” said Josh Harris, Sixers’ managing partner and co-owner.