76 Place at Market East

76 Place at Market East is a proposed indoor arena in Center City, Philadelphia. It would be the future home of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is planned to open in 2031. The arena would be located in Center City on the site of Fashion District Philadelphia near the Market–Frankford Line and Jefferson Station. 76 Place is expected to be privately funded at a cost of $1.3 billion by 76ers managing entity Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), with real estate developer and HBSE limited partner David Adelman leading the project.

History
The 76ers' current home, the Wells Fargo Center, opened in 1996. The Wells Fargo Center is part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which is also home to Lincoln Financial Field and Citizens Bank Park. The South Philadelphia Sports Complex has been critiqued as lacking access to public transportation—it is only served by the Broad Street Line—and there are little to no nearby restaurants and bars. However, plans to build a Center City arena had been unsuccessful in the past. The Philadelphia Phillies attempted to build a downtown stadium in Chinatown, Philadelphia, but neighbors protested the decision. Eight years later, residents once again protested and blocked the proposed construction of Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia.

The Wells Fargo Center underwent extensive renovations in 2019 and 2020 including the installation of a new 4K resolution scoreboard and expanded luxury suites.

Background
The Wells Fargo Center is owned by Comcast Spectacor, allowing them to profit off secondary events such as concerts instead of 76ers' managing entity, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE). Talk of a new arena increased by the mid-2010s when HBSE began referring to the Wells Fargo Center as just the Center. In 2020, the team proposed a partially publicly-funded plan that would build a new arena at Penn's Landing before being outbid for the site by the Durst Organization.

Fashion District Philadelphia
Fashion District Philadelphia is an indoor shopping mall located along Market Street. Opened in 2019, it is anchored by Burlington, Primark, AMC Theatres, and Round One Entertainment. The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which co-owned Fashion District Philadelphia, declared bankruptcy in 2020, and Macerich, the other co-owner took substantial control over the mall's operations. The mall lost a number of tenants due to shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Macerich endorsed the plan to convert part of Fashion District Philadelphia into an arena and referred to it as a "natural evolution" of the property.

Fashion District Philadelphia was preceded by another indoor mall, Gallery at Market East, which opened in 1977, but by the mid-2000s, had significantly declined as a result of losing a significant number of anchors, which were replaced by lower end stores. It closed in 2015.

Construction
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), who own and operate the 76ers, hired the architectural firm Gensler to design the arena and the engineering firm AECOM to build it. HBSE limited partner and real estate developer David Adelman is managing the project's development.

Ryan Boyer, the head of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, praised the planned stadium as having the opportunity to "galvanize the construction industry in Philadelphia." A number of unions in Philadelphia provided high school students internship opportunities during the stadium's construction. Consultants working on the stadium expect as many as 9,000 professionals, trades members and managers to work on the project.

HBSE do not plan to speed up the construction process in order to leave their current lease with the Wells Fargo Center sooner. The arena will replace one-third of Fashion District Philadelphia including the AMC Dine-In movie theater and Round 1 Bowling and Amusement. Groundbreaking on the arena is not expected for several years and has been opposed by local residents and businesses which the arena will displace. HBSE plan to use the site of the Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal on Filbert Street to attract new businesses.

Timeline of construction
Plan as of July 2022:
 * 2022–2024: Approval of construction permits from city and state
 * 2024–2026: Stadium engineers and developers design arena
 * 2026–2027: Portions of Fashion District Philadelphia demolished
 * 2028–2031: Construction of 76 Place at Market East

Funding
HBSE stated the project will be privately funded. However, a previous 30-year agreement that the property taxes for the site will be reduced remains in place through 2035. 76 Devcorp have said they are open to accepting partial funding from the government.

Design
76 Place at Market East is expected to have a capacity of 18,500. The site of the arena was chosen because of its location to a number of public transit options.

Impact on Chinatown
76 Place at Market East would be located one block from Chinatown. Asian Americans United, a local advocacy group, opposed the arena following the developers release their plans. Steven Zhu, the President of the Chinese Restaurant Association, said in a statement "We know these big sports arenas do not contribute to the neighborhoods that they are in; they serve only their own needs and their own profits." Zhu also used Capital One Arena as a cautionary tale given that the Chinese population and number of Chinese restaurants have declined significantly in Chinatown, Washington, D.C. since the arena's construction.

76 Devcorp has vowed to reach a "public benefits agreement" with neighbors and have met with local organizations including the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. After months of private closed-door meetings, 76 Devcorp failed to win over community members at the first public meeting organized by more than 20 local community organizations in December 2022. At this public meeting, community members voiced their concerns around traffic, community safety, and parking.

In January 2023, more than 40 Chinatown community groups, nonprofits, and business organizations announced the "Chinatown Coalition to Oppose the Arena". This coalition has the assistance from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

In February 2023, some members of the community criticized Hercules Grigos, a lawyer working with the 76ers' development team. Grigos sent Mark Squilla, a member of the Philadelphia City Council, a revised version of a bill to refinance a downtown parking garage that included an unrelated provision that would make it easier to either close or remove from the city grid Filbert Street between 10th and 11th Street, which is in the vicinity of the proposed arena.

Some local residents have criticized the plan as it would demolish a block of the Fashion District. Others highlighted the missed opportunity for investors to fund Philadelphia's poorer neighborhoods rather than Center City. Then-Philadelphia City Councilman David Oh speculated that the plan to build the arena may be smoke and mirrors and an attempt for the 76ers to gain concessions from the Wells Fargo Center's owner, Comcast Spectacor.

Accessibility issues
Howard Eskin, a Philadelphia sports talk radio personality, called the proposal one of the "worst ideas for [a] sports arena." He has argued that the site has little infrastructure for parking and is in a high-crime area, which would dissuade fans from attending the games. Eskin also stated that because of the little parking in the area that the 76ers would ultimately end up having to bus fans from parking lots that are not in walking distance of the stadium to the games.

Geoff Gordon, president of the Live Nation Entertainment Philadelphia chapter, raised concerns that the new stadium would make it hard for fans to tailgate prior to games.

Decline in city and state tax revenue
Sam Katz, a Philadelphia businessman and the Republican nominee for Mayor of Philadelphia in 1999 and 2003 has stated with the exception of Madison Square Garden, no arena located in a city with competing arenas is actually profitable. Therefore, Katz has argued that 76 Place at Market East would be unprofitable and argues this raises suspicions that the developers will look for public funding from the state. Katz has also said that despite the arena being privately-funded, improvements to the infrastructure such as subways to provide transportation for the fans would have to be paid for by the city.



A study conducted by Dr. Arthur Acolin, the Bob Filley Endowed Chair in the Department of Real Estate at the University of Washington, found that the construction of 76 Place could cost Pennsylvania and Philadelphia $1 billion in lost tax revenue. Acolin said "under a relatively conservative scenario, there will be some negative impact on existing businesses due to increased congestion, traffic during the construction period, people avoiding the area as some of the streets will be closed and all the traffic patterns will be disrupted..." Acolin predicted that fans would not patronize local businesses before and after the games, but rather concession stands or newer, fancier restaurants that will open along when the arena does. Responding to Acolin's proposal, Bishop Dwayne Royster said that 76 Place will increase income inequality.

Tenants
The arena is designed to be the future home of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers by 2031. Project lead David Adelman said that the venue also plans to host concerts and other sporting events.

Philadelphia Flyers
HBSE CEO Tad Brown said that the 76ers would welcome the Philadelphia Flyers joining them in the new venture. The Flyers currently play at the Wells Fargo Center as well. Comcast Spectacor owns both the Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center.

WNBA expansion team
The arena could host an expansion team in the Women's National Basketball Association.