Sixers' Market Street Arena dead, Team and Comcast/Flyers to build new one in South Philly

andyb 2025-01-13 18:48:56 UTC #21

It is just difficult to build anything in crowded downtown neighborhoods these days. DC had this issue with their proposed arena in Alexandria. I kind of remember the Phillies looking at the waterfront too when they built CBP. There are just too many NIMBYs and all these real estate deals seem too favorable for the owners compared to people who just don't want game day traffic.

schillingfan 2025-01-14 02:09:15 UTC #22

My daughter, who lives in old city and takes the bus, thought it would create a traffic mess. As far as I can tell, it was slated for the fashion mall, which is pretty empty and not really Chinatown, just the edge of it. Something does need to go in that location, though.

She’s moving to South Philly, so it won’t matter, now..

zambonir 2025-01-14 02:18:07 UTC #23

it was going to fan out and wreck Chinatown just the same, both for the footprint itself and the inevitable associated development. And I live in South Philly, it would have been a travel nightmare - blocking major bus routes, making it harder to drive on 676, messing up regional rail - for us too. At least during the five years of construction.

zambonir 2025-01-14 03:31:15 UTC #24

According to this Comcast will take a stake in the Sixers' parent company, not the team itself, though I wonder if that's really true. Are they allowed to have a piece of the Devils?

In the end it really does seem like the NBC's relationship with the NBA was what tipped the balance of power back to Comcast, even if they also gave some ground. Neither the government nor the opposition had a thing to do with it. And they started talking about doing this in early December but still let the Council vote on December 19.