Legislation on proposed new Sixers arena introduced in Philadelphia City Council
Bills that would authorize the proposed new Sixers arena, 76 Place, were introduced in Philadelphia City Council on Thursday, beginning a legislative process that could end with the team having the go-ahead to build the project.
In the city, district councilmembers have the final say on projects in their district. First District Councilmember Mark Squilla introduced 13 bills about the arena and the surrounding areas at Thursday's meeting. The bills would create an arena district in the Market East section of Center City as well as a transit oversight plan, with other measures he says will preserve the adjacent Chinatown neighborhood.
The legislation includes a combination of bills and resolutions regarding construction, real estate transactions, tax increment financing, zoning, street closures and various other items.
In September, the city unveiled details of an agreement with the Sixers that Mayor Cherelle Parker said would keep the team in Philadelphia until 2061. The arena site, bounded by Market, Filbert, 10th and 11th streets, would replace a now-shuttered Greyhound bus terminal and part of the Fashion District Philadelphia mall.
The mayor said the $1.3 billion project would generate $700 million in tax revenue for the city and the School District of Philadelphia and create more than 1,000 jobs in construction and operations.
Crowds of protesters against the arena and counterprotesters in favor of its construction, formed outside City Hall ahead of the 10 a.m. council meeting. Members of the No Arena in the Heart of Our City Coalition then moved into the upper gallery of the council chambers and began chants of "no arena" early in the meeting.
Debbie Wei, a member of the coalition, was pulled from the crowd and escorted out by security. She spoke to reporters outside City Hall.
"We're talking about communities in Philadelphia that have lived in spaces for generations – Chinatown is 150 years old, and the city's own impact studies said we would be severely diminished or destroyed by this project," Wei said. "They're just plowing forward, they haven't done their due diligence."
After several minutes, dozens of people in support of the arena started chanting, "build it, build it." After about 15 minutes of dueling chants, Council President Kenyatta Johnson regained control of the meeting.
The bills were then referred to committees where they will be discussed before a vote on the council floor.
Squilla sent CBS News Philadelphia this statement explaining what he introduced, which includes measures to help Chinatown in addition to making arrangements for the arena.
I introduced the legislative package for the arena today after 30 days of review and stakeholder input. In partnership with Mayor Parker, we incorporated a funded arena district and a transit oversight plan in the Community Benefits Agreement. I added legislation for a Chinatown zoning overlay that is intended to include affordable housing, protect small businesses and implement use controls.
Forthcoming will be legislation for a cultural TIF intended to help preserve, support, maintain and improve the legacy and value of Chinatown to the City of Philadelphia. The TIF will capture increases in tax revenues to reinvest in the Chinatown community.
We will now begin the legislative process of public hearings in City Council during which we will deliberate the bills and testimony from all interested parties.
After the council meeting, Squilla told reporters he added more provisions to protect businesses in Chinatown after hearing opposition to the arena.
"The opposition has really led us, and the concerns that we heard from the opposition have really led us, to a point where we get to hear what their concerns are and how we as council can help mitigate those concerns," he said.
At a separate event, Mayor Parker was also asked about the bills being introduced.
"This is what I call doing our best to get things done, government can't do it alone, we need the private sector to help it thrive," Parker said.
A spokesperson for the Sixers said the team is grateful the bills were introduced.
"We appreciate Councilmember Squilla, Council President Johnson and Mayor Parker for reaching this critical milestone," the spokesperson said in a statement. "There is still a lot of work to do, but we are one step closer to building a world-class arena for the 2031-32 season. We look forward to working with the City as we move to the next steps in this process."
Eventually, the legislation will need a full vote from City Council, which could happen in December.
Council meeting preceded by protests for and against 76ers arena
The coalition says the arena would harm the nearby Chinatown neighborhood and increase congestion to unmanageable levels.
A city impact study into traffic and parking for the arena found that traffic would only be manageable if 40% of fans or fewer drove their vehicles to games and 40% took public transportation.
More than 41% of attendees driving would "have significant impacts on delays and queue lengths at key intersections," the report says.
Before the meeting, members of the city's building trades waved signs that read "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs" and "Let's go to work."
"A simple message on their shirt says 'We build Philly,'" TJ Lepera, political director of electricians' union IBEW Local 98 said. "Because that's what we do, we build the buildings and maintain them afterward. And that's what we want to do now. We want to build an arena that's going to revitalize this city and... revitalize East Market Street all the way to the [Delaware] river.
Protesters against the arena held signs that read "Say no to billionaires, say yes to Philly," "Don't get played," with a basketball graphic, and another that read "Black Philly for Chinatown." The coalition said city leaders have sidelined their concerns.
"We will never, ever concede to an arena being built in Chinatown," one man said into a megaphone outside City Hall before the meeting.
A member of the coalition criticized the potential for tax benefits to the Sixers, who have said no taxpayer money will be used for the project. However, if the city subsidizes other arenas during the 30-year agreement, the Sixers could become eligible for tax incentives.
"So many things wrong with this arena," a member of the coalition said. "One, it's a giveaway to billionaires. SEPTA is in crisis, our hospitals are underfunded and our schools, they want to close them. So how are we going to give $400 million to billionaires?"
New Jersey is also trying to lure the Sixers across the Delaware to Camden, offering the team $800 million in tax credits, $500 million in bonds and even a piece of land to build it, just north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the Rutgers University Camden campus.
Another statement from a Sixers spokesperson did not exactly shut down the possibility of building in New Jersey, despite the positive developments for the team in Philadelphia.
"As we have consistently said, our focus is on 76Place, but we have a responsibility to ensure we have a world-class arena to play in when our lease at the Wells Fargo Center expires in 2031," the statement read. "Until we have absolute certainty on where that will be, we will not eliminate other options."