The proposal for the Philadelphia 76ers arena would dramatically change the area around the downtown stadium, and questions remain about how the organization will pull it off.
While details are scant, the latest description of the project will replace the west side of the Fashion District, the Greyhound Bus Terminal building and Filbert Street behind the property.
The nearly 200,000-square-foot purchase has blindsided some Chinatown neighbors and elected officials, and raised concerns about a downtown street, a longtime bus depot and existing mall tenants.
» Read more: Proposed Sixers arena to expand on Filbert Street
Here’s what we know about some of the fascinating questions about the 76ers and their partners.
Transferring Filbert Street from public to private control would require an ordinance from the City Council. Road moves aren’t uncommon — but it’s unclear whether the Sixers arena has the political support to make that happen.
City Councilman Mark Squilla said the district’s approval for that transfer is needed because the Sixers’ plan is too vague and lacks community input from Chinatown and surrounding businesses.
“It’s too early,” he said. They don’t even have a full plan yet.
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Providing that portion of Philbert would require a traffic mitigation plan and other zoning adjustments to keep the road active even without a game or event being hosted in the theoretical stadium.
Streets Department spokeswoman Keisha McCarthy-Skelton said officials are in ongoing discussions with the Sixers organization about land use logistics as well as “real estate tax calculations and community engagement.”
The block to the west of the proposed Filbert Street has been earmarked for periodic closures from 2019 to serve as a pedestrian plaza for the popular Reading Terminal Market. That idea leaves Philbert open to auto traffic most of the time.
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The stadium proposal would demolish a third of the newly developed Fashion District.
Originally hailed as a commercial anchor for the struggling Eastern Market corridor, the three-block-long shopping center was meant to replace the 1970s-era Gallery Mall and its downmarket but popular department stores.
But the Fashion District struggled during the pandemic and has been slow to recover. In March, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the mall’s co-owner, reported gross occupancy was 78.1% — 10 percentage points lower than the next lowest-performing mall in the multi-state portfolio.
“I think everybody recognizes and agrees that the Fashion District is not working,” said Steven Gartner, CEO of commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE, which was not involved in the mall or the 76ers transaction.
Another Fashion District co-owner and day-to-day operations manager, California-based real estate investment trust Faith Macerich, accepted the 76ers’ proposal. On the company’s second-quarter earnings call, CEO Tom O’Hare said tenants will only be evicted from their current building, not the entire property.
“The reality is we got where we are today,” O’Hearn said.
It’s not yet clear where all of the affected Fashion District tenants stand on the decision.
» Read more: White flight and fast fashion mean the high street doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Can the 76ers change that?
The Greyhound Terminal site once housed a portion of the Harrison Court Building, a historic structure being converted into offices and shops in 1984 when a devastating welding torch fire broke out. Both Harrison’s and the adjacent buildings were demolished the following year and the land was sold in 1986 to be converted into a bus depot.
Greyhound has leased the one-story building on Philbert Street for decades as ownership of the 47,000-square-foot parcel changed hands.
Criterion Holdings LLC, a New York-based real estate company, has owned the land since 2006 — but there have been signs of interest in selling it for years. East Market has attracted thousands of apartments in recent years, prompting demand to actively promote the area for redevelopment.
Criterion and Greyhound did not return requests for comment.
But that operator has struggled to find an alternative terminal site, even as the sale of other adjacent parcels precludes a bus exit.
Anuj Gupta, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans (D.Pa.), told the Inquirer that the bus company has only a few years left on its lease. In the past, city officials have considered moving the bus depot to the 30th Street Station — where other cross-city bus lines serve passengers — or to the now-defunct Police Administration Building, the Roundhouse at Seventh and Seed streets.
Staff Writer Joseph N. DiStefano contributed reporting.
