Mayor Calls For New Study Of 76ers Arena Proposal As It Becomes Flashpoint In Race To Replace Him
Mayor Jim Kenney wants to study the potential impacts of the Philadelphia 76ers' proposal for a Center City arena, but its impact has already been felt on the race to replace him.
On Wednesday, Kenney's office announced plans to conduct several independent studies to build as full a picture as possible of the potential effects an arena on the border of Chinatown and the East Market subsection of Center City would have.
The $1.3B proposal dubbed 76 Place was revealed in July, and calls for such studies have come from community groups and elsewhere in city government in the nine months since.
As the city's designated representative in major developments, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. will lead the process Kenney referred to as "the city's due diligence" in his announcement. PIDC published a request for proposals to oversee community engagement and conduct economic, demographic and urban planning studies, with responses due April 28.
This week, the fight over 76 Place collided with the city's mayoral race, for which the Democratic primary is May 16. The Philadelphia Board of Ethics sued candidate Jeff Brown for illegally coordinating with an independent expenditure committee, which takes in contributions beyond the city's limits for individual donors on the condition that it does not communicate or coordinate with candidates, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The ethics board's suit included a claim that an unnamed local sports team had donated over $250K to the committee, named For A Better Philadelphia, the Inquirer reports. Attorney David Maser, who chairs the committee and a super PAC named in the lawsuit, also consults with the 76ers on their arena proposal.
Seven of the Democratic candidates for mayor gathered at Temple University for a televised debate Tuesday night, where Brown and state Rep. Amen Brown were the only two to answer affirmatively to a yes-or-no question about whether they supported the arena.
“I think to turn this city around, we need big projects," Jeff Brown said. "And the mayor needs to get big projects done, while being sensitive to the community.”
Only former Councilmember-at-Large Helen Gym answered no, but former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and former Councilmember-at-Large Allan Domb both cited the ethics board's lawsuit as cause for concern.
"The recent news gives me reason to pause," Domb said during the debate about the arena. "I need more information on what’s going on.”
Gym went further than simply opposing the arena, taking the news of the lawsuit as a sign that 76 Devcorp, the company formed by 76ers ownership to develop the arena, is exerting undue influence over the race.
“It is kinda trash that they tried to buy one of the candidates on this stage," Gym said of the team behind the arena.
Rep. Amen Brown interjected to ask Gym if she had met with 76 Devcorp CEO and 76ers part-owner David Adelman.
“I met with David Adelman, but not to discuss anything," Gym said. "To be clear, meeting with an individual is not a problem. Taking their money is ... It was a general meeting and we did not discuss the 76ers."
The proposed arena would occupy more than a city block, sit on top of regional rail hub Jefferson Station, replace one-third of the Fashion District Philadelphia mall and necessitate a redevelopment of the remaining two-thirds. Construction would not begin for several years under the best of circumstances, and the 76ers' lease at Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia runs until mid-2031.
The site sits adjacent to the southern edge of Chinatown, which has rallied in opposition over concerns that an arena would displace local businesses and threaten the cultural fabric that defines the neighborhood.
CORRECTION, APRIL 13, 12:10 P.M. ET: A previous version of this article misstated the train station at the site of the proposed arena. This article has been updated.
