Sixers lead tour of proposed 76 Place arena site, share hopes of landing zoning ordinance by June

A Wednesday walking tour around a chunk of a Market East city block ended on the concourse level of the Fashion District Mall, where the shops and dining spots connect to SEPTA’s Jefferson Station.

David Adelman asked a group to envision exiting the subway or regional rail and walking straight, to where a Starbucks sits in front of an escalator. That route in 2031 will take one directly through a tunnel to the court inside the 76ers’ new $1.3 billion arena first proposed in July.

A round of small media tours hosted by Adelman and Sixers chief executive officer Tad Brown recently complemented their ongoing engagement with local leaders and residents in the months since their announcement. They hope this phase will result in the finalization of a community benefits agreement — a pledge to commit $50 million to a multitude of initiatives over the 30-year life of the arena — before their zoning ordinance is introduced by city councilman Mark Squilla and approved by June.

“Once we have our zoning, we have a project,” said Adelman, the billionaire chief executive officer of Campus Apartments and developer who recently became a Sixers minority owner. “Hopefully, by June, our goal is to have this wrapped up.”

The tour began in front of the CVS drug store on 11th and Market Streets, where a “We want to be a great neighbor” sign advertising the 76 Place project sits across the street from one corner of the hypothetical arena. While walking along Market toward 10th, Adelman pointed out boarded-up business space on the right and, on the left, an H&M store that his plans would cut into to create an outdoor plaza similar to the one at glistening Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Adelman then turned left and walked under the connecting bridge toward Filbert Street, which his project would close to cars. This is where a concourse that would remain open on non-event days would be located, as well as a fresh entrance to Jefferson Station and a “back door” to the iconic Reading Terminal Market. The Greyhound bus station, which had already lost its lease before the Sixers’ arena plans became public, would disappear.

The tour concluded with a sweep through the mall, which was not exactly bustling around 2:15 p.m. and would close at 7 p.m.

“We don’t want to contribute to the problem that currently exists, that it’s dead with no energy,” Adelman said. “So this will be high-energy all the time, with retail and food.”

Adelman described his conversations with local organizations, such as the Center City Business Association, Washington Square West Civic Association, and SEPTA, as “receptive” and “couldn’t be happier” about the arena plans. He has also learned that Chinatown — which sits just north of the proposed site — is a “really unique place,” because approximately 40 community groups represent its residents and employees.

Adelman, Brown, and Sixers chief diversity and inclusion officer David Gould met with more than 200 members of those cultural, business, and immigrant societies last weekend, where they conveyed a goal to “solidify the community instead of harm it,” Adelman said. On Wednesday, Adelman emphasized that no Chinatown businesses or residents would be displaced by the construction, and that the project could contribute capital to create affordable housing.

The “vast majority” of the groups from Chinatown that Adelman has spoken to “are neutral-to-positive” about the proposal, he said, with one vocal detractor. Since the summer announcement, critics of the arena plans have raised concerns about gentrification, long-term rental price increases and the commitment to preserve of the authenticity of a culturally significant neighborhood in Center City.

“I don’t expect to get 100 percent of people on board,” Adelman said. “But I do think we’re making great progress.”

Adelman has pitched how creating a buzzing entertainment district — with restaurants, bars, and stores flanking the corners of the arena — can improve public safety and cleanliness in an area he called a “mecca for violence.” The Sixers have been collaborating with Maureen Rush, the recently retired Penn vice president of public safety who was instrumental in the transformation of University City. Simple solutions such as uniform wall lighting, prominently placed security cameras, and regular street sweeping can create security — and pride — in a neighborhood, Rush and Adelman agreed.

“It’s the chicken and the egg [philosophy],” said Rush, who called the arena site’s surrounding area a “ghost town” after 9 p.m. “If people don’t feel safe, they won’t walk the streets. If they don’t walk the streets, it feels unsafe. … This project is going to light it up.”

Traffic and parking have been additional understandable concerns for locals, Adelman said. Yet he believes the approximately 20% of attendees who take public transit to Sixers games in South Philly will increase to 50% at the new location’s larger transportation hub that could be compared to Boston’s TD Garden and adjacent train station. For those who choose to drive, Adelman said 4,500 parking spaces inside 29 garages within a 10-minute walk of the arena will be available — and geolocated through the app that also houses event tickets.

» READ MORE: Proposed Sixers arena site would expand across Filbert Street

Zoning nuances also make the Sixers believe this is the city’s best chance to revitalize a declining area. If this project does not pan out, Adelman said, another developer could buy the property and “build a Liberty Place-[style] building on each of the three blocks [of the Fashion District] … walk in with a permit, over the counter, and not have to give any of the community groups anything.”

That’s why Adelman and Brown hope that, by this summer, the hypothetical new home for the Sixers that they asked a group to visualize on a Wednesday walking tour is one step closer to becoming reality.

“This is a legacy opportunity to really help the city of Philadelphia do something that probably is not going to be done unless we do it,” Brown said. “There haven’t been any developers coming down here right now saying, ‘That’s where I want to be.’

“We think this is the best place for the arena, and we think it’s going to transform this part of town and really take us to, hopefully, the next level organizationally.”