After two years, the clock is ticking on the Sixers plan to build a Center City arena

In July 2022 the Sixers announced their intention to construct a world-class showplace on East Market Street, a billion-dollar project they said would not only benefit the team but bring new life and economic vitality to the struggling business corridor.

What followed has been 24 months of broken or delayed deadlines and timelines, sharpening the stakes for all involved: a post-pandemic Philadelphia that is struggling to fill office buildings, retail stores, and public-transit lines; a Chinatown neighborhood that sees the arena as the seed of its destruction; and a Sixers ownership that stands to grow stronger and wealthier through control of its own venue.

Here at the two-year mark, we explain where things stand in what has become the city’s most divisive development battle in years.

Fall. That’s the target, once City Council returns from its summer break Sept. 5. But don’t expect immediate passage of arena-enabling legislation.

Councilmember Mark Squilla, a key player, has promised that the public will have 30 days to review any legislation before it is introduced. Activists in Chinatown, which abuts the arena site at 10th and Market Streets, are sure to have objections. Public hearings could take time, given concerns that the arena will generate traffic, crowds,and trash.

And waiting in the wings for the completion of the government-approval process are lawyers from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the national civil-rights organization that has sued to protect Chinatowns in other cities.

Squilla, whose First District includes Chinatown and the arena site, said he expects a yes-or-no decision on the project by the end of the year.

Many things, including timing that initially placed the decisions around the $1.55 billion development in the hands of a lame-duck Council and mayor. The new mayor and City Council weren’t seated until January 2024.

The continued absence of city-sponsored impact studies remains vexing for those involved and unexplained to the public. Squilla says no legislation will be presented until the studies are released. Some preliminary findings were shared in November, with the full reports due by the end of December, but seven months later, they’re nowhere in sight.

Chinatown opponents are already suspicious of any findings, given that the Sixers are paying for the studies.

No. The issue is at what point the lack of government action forces the team to reconsider its plans. As of now, the Sixers still intend to open the arena when their lease expires at the Wells Fargo Center in 2031, building atop Jefferson Station on the western third of the Fashion District mall.

The Sixers’ schedule calls for government approvals by the end of 2024, demolition starting in 2026, and construction beginning in 2028. The team said in a statement that in order to open the arena on time, Council legislation needs to be introduced in early September.

Maybe.

“I think we’re a little bit at a standstill,” said Sixers executive David Gould — and that was in May. Billionaire Sixers co-owner and lead developer David Adelman routinely complains that he’s being mistreated by the media and at a pro-arena union rally in June called the project “a f—ing no-brainer.”

Chinatown activists say that every day the arena is not being built is a victory. Plus it puts pressure on the Sixers’ schedule. These months without city action allowed Chinatown to grow its coalition, which includes church and civic organizations, and for other opposition groups to emerge, including No Arena Wash West.

The Sixers haven’t been idle, either. They have scored big endorsements, including from the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP; the African American Chamber of Commerce of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware; and the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity. The team says it gathered more than 30,000 signatures on petitions of support.

Yes, on April 2, the proposal went before the city’s Civic Design Review committee, which offers nonbinding advice on project design. Committee member Ashley DiCaro hammered the Sixers’ plan, questioning whether it would merely repeat historic mistakes in the development of Market East. Other members offered their own harsh critiques, with one calling the proposal “undercooked” and “underthought.”

Adelman says no — period. But calculations have become more complicated since the Phillies and Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center, announced a 10-year, $2.5 billion plan to remake the South Philadelphia sports complex. They intend to turn parking lots into an entertainment zone featuring stores, restaurants, apartments, and hotels.

They want the tenant Sixers to join them, a request the basketball team has repeatedly shot down. Adelman says no matter what happens, the team will be gone from South Philadelphia in 2031, and Squilla believes it.

“Originally, I was skeptical,” the councilmember said, but “after multiple conversations, and seeing the resources being spent, I don’t believe they’ll be back to South Philadelphia.”

She hasn’t directly said. She seemed to speak favorably of the Sixers’ project while running for election. More recently, she said the city needs the kind of sports-entertainment zone that Comcast Spectacor and the Phillies want to build.

From that, some political observers conjure an unexpected outcome: Both projects get built. Or at least both get approved.

The speculation goes like this: Comcast Spectacor executives say that with or without the Sixers, they’re going ahead with their plans at the sports complex. So let them. The Sixers say they’re going to build on Market East without taking a single city tax dollar. So let them.

In the end, the mayor and her Democratic allies get two major developments. And the building-trade unions that helped propel Parker to office get construction jobs both places.

Of course, whether that outcome would be best for the city — two arenas with one team each, fighting over bookings for concerts and shows — is a different question.

They could. Plenty of NBA franchises have relocated, and plenty of cities want teams now. Las Vegas is trying to build an arena to lure a franchise, and Seattle, Nashville, and Vancouver are often mentioned as expansion sites.

The Sixers have said from the start that they’re not leaving Philadelphia. But last week the business news website ROI-NJ reported that New Jersey officials are pushing Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the team, to move to an arena that would be built in Camden, where the Sixers maintain their practice facility.

“We’ve been observing the lack of progress in Philadelphia, and we said, ‘You know what, we’re going to raise this with them.’ And we’re serious about it, and they seem to be serious about it,” Gov. Phil Murphy told 6abc’s Action News.

Of course, Sixers-to-Camden scenarios have surfaced every so often since at least 1989. Asked about the news report, the Sixers said in a statement that “we remain focused on bringing a state-of-the-art arena to Philadelphia.”