City Council vote on Sixers arena is delayed a day; community benefits agreement still a sticking point
A majority of Council members are expected to ultimately vote in favor of the controversial proposal for an arena in Center City.
Philadelphia City Council has delayed its expected preliminary vote Wednesday on whether to approve plans for the proposed 76ers arena in Center City. The vote is now slated for Thursday.
The city's deal with the Sixers includes a $50 million community benefits agreement, though a memo obtained by The Inquirer indicates Council wants them to pay more.
The Sixers also agreed to pay for SEPTA passes for season-ticket holders for a year. But a key lawmaker wants them to go further.
The Sixers have said the new arena could open for the 2031 season if City Council approves the legislation needed to begin the project by the end of this year.
The South Philly sports complex could be reset if the Sixers depart to Center City.
City Council postpones vote on 76ers arena in Center City as negotiations drag on
City Council on Wednesday evening postponed a committee vote on the 76ers’ proposal to build an arena in Center City, leaving just hours to go before a key legislative deadline.
“Talks continue,” Council President Kenyatta Johnson told reporters. “We’re having conversations with the Sixers and [Council] members on how best to proceed to move forward. We want this deal to work. We think it’s good for the city of Philadelphia.”
Council’s Committee of the Whole, which includes all 17 members, was scheduled to vote on the package of legislation needed to approve the arena on Wednesday. Lawmakers convened briefly in morning and again in the early evening before Johnson sent them home for the night as negotiations dragged on.
Arena supporters say they are optimistic a deal will come together
Supporters of the arena affiliated with the city’s building trades unions said they were optimistic a deal would come together.
Mark Lynch, business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, said the negotiating parties – City Council and the 76ers – were “about $10 to 15 million” apart Wednesday night. He suggested that’s a small difference relative to a $1.3 billion project.
“We need to come together,” Lynch said, adding: “At the end of the day, there’s nobody who lives in Philadelphia that doesn’t think this deal is the best thing for Philadelphia.”
— Anna Orso
Chinatown opponents to arena see postponement as a sign of Council members' hesitancy to vote for it: 'It's not over'
Chinatown opponents said the continued postponement of a committee vote on the Sixers arena legislation was a sign Council members were hesitant to vote for it.
John Chin, head of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, said the postponed vote was a sign “it’s not over.”
“Chinatown is one neighborhood that has support around the city, because the people know that if Chinatown falls, the next neighborhood after that will fall,” Chin said, adding: “It’s not over today, it’s not over tomorrow, there’s more fighting to happen.”
— Anna Orso
Vote on Sixers arena project delayed until Thursday morning
A crucial City Council vote on the 76ers arena project was delayed for a second time Wednesday night.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson postponed a vote scheduled for 4 p.m. until Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. A spokesperson for Johnson said he was still negotiating terms of a deal with the team.
Council’s Committee of the Whole, which is composed of all 17 members, must approve the legislation by Thursday if the body is to take it up for final passage before the end of the year.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson still in negotiations with Sixers
A spokesperson for Council President Kenyatta Johnson said the leader of the chamber was still in negotiations with the Sixers as of 4:45 pm., long after the committee was scheduled to vote at 4.
— Anna Orso
Social media account questions labor leader Ryan Boyer’s board post at Sixers partner’s investment firm
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with a new headline, and it clarifies the origin of the social media post, while removing an anonymous accusation on social media that was not supported by the reporting.
Hours before City Council was to vote on the Sixers arena Wednesday, critics of the project took issue with a six-figure compensation package that labor leader and arena champion Ryan Boyer earns at an investment firm cofounded by arena partner David Adelman.
Boyer, leader of the Building Trades Council and longtime business manager for Laborers District Council, owns nearly 10,000 shares in a real estate investment trust fund managed by FS Investments, which is valued at more than $223,600, according to federal securities disclosures. Since 2021, Boyer has held a board post on FS Credit REIT, one of about half a dozen funds managed by the Philadelphia-based investment company where Adelman serves as vice chairman.
Council members trickle back into chambers ahead of scheduled committee vote
Council’s chambers were echoing with chants late Wednesday afternoon as members trickled in for a scheduled committee vote. Few people, including members, knew if a vote would take place once the committee convenes, or if another delay would be called.
Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who presides over the body and decides when to hold votes, had not yet entered the chamber as of shortly after 4 p.m.
— Anna Orso
Arena proposal could pass regardless of how community benefits agreement negotiations play out, councilmember says
City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. said he believes there are enough votes on City Council to approve the 76ers arena proposal regardless of how negotiations play out over the size of the project’s community benefits agreement.
Jones has spoken positively about the project in the past but hadn’t previously stated publicly whether he planned to vote for it. In an interview Wednesday, he said that he had planned to vote for it even if the 76ers didn’t budge from their public commitment of giving $50 million to the initiatives funded by the CBA, which is meant to soften the impact of the project on nearby communities.
For Jones it was a no-brainer once he heard that the team had privately agreed to go as high as $60 million.
Mayor Cherelle Parker makes rounds in City Council ahead of planned vote: 'I'm getting my steps in'
As negotiations over the 76ers arena proposal drag on, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker spent part of Wednesday afternoon personally visiting the offices of City Council members.
The mayor, who is a former Council member, supports the $1.3 billion project and was presumably attempting to facilitate a compromise between lawmakers and the team.
But asked what brought her to Council’s offices on the fourth floor of City Hall, she said only, “I’m getting my steps in.”
City Council's proposed $100M community benefits agreement, explained
The proposed amendments to the legislation authorizing the 76ers arena proposal that Council President Kenyatta Johnson's office has distributed to lawmakers include doubling the cost of the project's community benefits agreement to $100 million.
Highlights of the additional CBA funding that would be added include:
$6.4 million increase in funding for the proposed special services district that would provide public safety and other services around the arena (for a total of $20.5 million)
$9 million increase for housing support in Chinatown ($12 million total)
$8.4 million increase in aid for businesses impacted by the arena's construction ($10 million total)
$5 million in new funding for a Chinatown Community Land Trust
$5 million in new funding for Chinatown Business grant program
The amendments would also remove some line items in the CBA that were perceived as initiatives that would cost the 76ers little in direct spending and that the team should cover even if they are not part of the agreement. They include the team's promise to provide $3 million worth of free tickets to public school kids and $750,000 worth of time for "community use of arena."
Arena opponents take victory lap after City Council postpones committee vote
Opponents of the proposed 76ers arena were taking a victory lap Wednesday morning after City Council postponed a crucial committee vote on legislation that would green-light the project.
Vivian Chang, executive director of the group Asian Americans United and an advocate for Chinatown, said she and her allies who oppose the arena are spending much of the day pressing Council members to delay voting on the legislation until next year, calling the current deadline “arbitrary.”
The 76ers have said they need legislative approval by the end of this year in order to open the arena by the 2031-32 NBA season, when the team’s current lease at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia expires. To approve the project by the end of the year, Council would have to vote legislation out of committee by Thursday morning at the latest if they adhere to their normal rules and procedures.
What happens if lawmakers vote arena legislation out of committee
If lawmakers vote the legislation out of committee Wednesday, it will all but guarantee that the arena will be approved by City Hall by the end of the year. City Council President Kenyatta Johnson has said he intends to add an extra session of Council on Dec. 19 to ensure enough time for the arena deal to pass.
The next step in Council’s procedure after committee approval would be for the legislation to get a first reading on the Council floor, which must happen at least one week prior to a final vote. The first reading would have to happen at Council’s meeting this Thursday, allowing for the final vote on Dec. 19. (If any additional amendments are needed once the legislation is approved in committee, it would complicate the timeline because regular Council rules require an additional week for bills that get amended on the floor to be approved.)
— Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh
Community benefits agreement funding is last major sticking point in negotiations
City Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office on Wednesday morning distributed a list of amendments to the legislation authorizing the construction of a 76ers arena in Center City, including measures to double the project’s community benefits agreement to $100 million, strengthen workforce diversity requirements, and make other technical changes.
Council has been negotiating for weeks with the 76ers and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker about the arena, and the last major sticking point is the price tag of the CBA, which would fund some city programs, aid for businesses that would be impacted by the arena’s construction, and other initiatives.
The 76ers have agreed to increase their initial offer of $50 million to $60 million, a source close to Council leadership told The Inquirer, but lawmakers want the team to go further.
Committee vote on Sixers arena legislation delayed until 4 p.m.
The scheduled committee vote on Sixers arena related legislation has been postponed until 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Council’s Committee of the Whole, which is composed of all 17 members, briefly convened at 9:10 a.m. for a scheduled vote on legislation that would greenlight the project. The delay gives members more time to negotiate a deal with the team.
Opponents and supporters of the proposed $1.3 billion arena packed Council’s chambers and broke out in dueling chants. Members of building trades unions who back the project yelled “build it!” while attendees from a coalition of groups that oppose the arena chanted, “Hey hey! Ho ho! These billionaires have got to go!”
— Anna Orso
Dueling chants break out in City Council chambers
As the clock struck 9 a.m., dueling chants broke out in chambers, as arena proponents yelled "build it! build it!" and opponents chanted "hey hey! ho ho! These billionaires have got to go!"
— Anna Orso
Opponents and supporters of the arena attend Council vote
City Council’s chambers were filling with spectators early Wednesday morning ahead of a scheduled vote on legislation green-lighting the 76ers proposed Center City arena, with both opponents and supporters lining the room.
Council’s Committee of the Whole, which is composed of all 17 members of Council, was scheduled to convene at 9 a.m. It was unclear Wednesday morning whether the committee would hold a vote immediately or delay proceedings to take place later in the day to make more time for negotiations.
Opponents of the project — donning red “no arena” T-shirts — and supporters from representing the building trades unions were lined up before 8 a.m. to get into City Hall. The committee must approve the legislation for it to be considered by the full Council next week.
— Anna Orso
As arena deadline nears, Philly Council considers giving the 76ers a nearly $100M ultimatum
With negotiations over the 76ers’ $1.3 billion Center City arena proposal coming down to the final hours, City Council leaders are signaling that they’re ready to play hardball.
Lawmakers want the 76ers to pay significantly more than the $50 million the team has offered to contribute to the project’s community benefits agreement, which would aid impacted businesses and fund some city programs.
The team has agreed to pay as much as $60 million in community benefits, according to a source close to Council leadership. With a key committee vote scheduled for Wednesday morning, Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office on Tuesday night proposed amending the CBA to nearly $100 million, according to a memo obtained by The Inquirer.
The 76ers arena proposal could get preliminary approval from the City Council today
City Council members are scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to give preliminary approval to the 76ers’ controversial proposal to build an arena in Center City that would open before the 2031-32 NBA season.
Council’s Committee of the Whole, which includes all 17 members, is scheduled to convene at 9 a.m. Wednesday. It’s unclear whether lawmakers will immediately vote on the package of legislation needed to green-light the project or whether Council President Kenyatta Johnson will recess the committee to allow more time for negotiations.
A majority of Council members are expected to ultimately vote in favor of the project given the support it has received from the politically powerful building trades unions and other groups. But as of Tuesday, lawmakers were still in talks with the 76ers and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration over aspects of the deal. Under Council’s normal rules, the latest Johnson could delay the committee vote until would be Thursday morning.
Sixers may pay more than $50 million for arena proposal's community benefits agreement
The 76ers are negotiating with City Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office about potentially paying more than $50 million for the community benefits agreement associated with the team’s proposal to build a new arena in Center City, David Gould, the team’s chief corporate affairs officer, said in a hearing Tuesday.
“We are in conversations with the Council president about the overall CBA number,” Gould said in a meeting of the Committee of the Whole. “We are considering adjustment.”
Gould’s comments Tuesday were an indication the 76ers are willing to do what it takes to get the $1.3 billion project approved by Council before lawmakers adjourn for winter recess on Dec. 19. In hearings over the last three weeks, Council members have raised concerns about whether the agreement would adequately address community needs and protect neighboring Chinatown and the likelihood that the project will cost SEPTA millions in added operational costs.
Map: Location of the proposed new Sixers' arena
When is the earliest the new Sixers arena could open?
The Sixers have said their proposed new arena could open for the 2031 season if City Council approves the legislation needed to begin the project by the end of this year.
If that happens, the team’s plan would be to start demolishing the western third of the Fashion District in 2026 and begin construction in 2028.
Until then, the Sixers will continue to play in the Wells Fargo Center, which is owned by Comcast Spectacor and shared with the Flyers. The Sixers’ lease at the Wells Fargo Center expires in 2031, and Comcast Spectacor has joined the Phillies in a plan to turn much of the sports complex into a fan district.
Why are some residents opposed to the arena?
The most vocal opposition to the project has come from residents in Chinatown, many of whom fear the project will dramatically change their neighborhood and cultural identity.
The proposed stadium at 10th and Market Streets would be built on the doorstep to Chinatown, and the city’s economic impact study found half of the small businesses in Chinatown would be negatively affected by the proposed arena. The report also warned that while no housing would be torn down in Chinatown, the arena’s presence could cause indirect displacement through gentrification and loss of cultural identity.
“The community meetings were all just smoke and mirrors,” said Chinatown resident Eric Lau. “I just want to make a big sign that says: ‘Cherelle Parker doesn’t care about Asian people.’”