Sixers, Comcast Buy Properties Near Scuttled Arena Site

The Philadelphia 76ers and Comcast Spectacor may have abandoned plans for a Center City arena, but they aren’t ready to abandon the corridor where it was proposed.

A joint venture between Comcast and the Sixers ownership group acquired a handful of sites on Market Street for $56 million, WHYY reported. The sites include 920–934 Market Street, 936-38 Market Street, 1000–1008 Market Street and 1010–24 Market Street.

The low-rise properties have been used for retail space. Tenants have included H&R Block, Subway, Spirit Halloween and cash-for-gold stores.

“We want to be part of the process to re-energize East Market Street,” 76DevCo chair David Adelman said in a statement; 76DevCo is the joint venture.

Adelman didn’t provide any details about plans for the site, only saying it would be developing those plans in the coming months. The venture is not expected to acquire any more sites in the corridor.

The mayor has said that Sixers ownership planned to develop 380 residential units, 28,000 square feet of retail and 127 parking spaces at 1000–20 Market Street. There were also plans at 920–38 Market Street for 340 residential units, 26,000 square feet of retail and 114 parking spaces.

There’s been little indication that the joint venture would revive those plans. Experts have deemed housing as a critical component in the corridor’s potential revival.

The city is working on a master plan for the district, but no timeline has been shared about that process. The potential redevelopment by Comcast and the Sixers isn’t expected to be impacted by that process.

In December, the City Council approved a $1.3 billion proposal to build an arena for the basketball team on East Market Street. The approval was controversial, drawing local protests that required law enforcement intervention.

A month later, Comcast and the Sixers pivoted to an arena development in South Philly, instead.

— Holden Walter-Warner