Sixers arena vote delayed again as Philly City Council pushes for $100M community benefits agreement

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For the second time Wednesday, Philadelphia City Council postponed an initial vote on the Sixers arena proposal, as negotiations over the controversial development continue with team representatives.

Council’s Committee of the Whole, which is composed of all 17 lawmakers, was expected to vote on enabling legislation during a hearing Wednesday morning. But seconds after the start of the hearing, after the din of dueling chants from proponents and opponents fell silent, Council President Kenyatta Johnson announced the committee would reconvene at 4 p.m.

The preliminary vote was postponed again Wednesday evening, with Johnson calling the negotiations a “work in progress,” a description that has become a refrain for him in recent weeks.

The committee is now scheduled to reconvene at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

“We’re still going through the process of addressing issues and concerns of members and hopefully we’ll wrap this up tomorrow,” Johnson said outside his office.

Earlier Wednesday, City Councilmember Jim Harrity, who supports the Sixers’ $1.3 billion arena proposal, told reporters the team has yet to agree to a list of proposed amendments to the legislative package the team needs to build the arena in Center City.

Council, for example, wants to double the value of the deal’s community benefits agreement to $100 million. That figure reflects increased funding for affordable housing, workforce development and a business disruption fund designed to blunt the impacts of the arena’s construction.

“This is about them trying to get the best deal for the citizens of Philadelphia. And to give some more security to the residents and businesses in Chinatown. We’re never gonna make everybody happy,” Harrity said as arena opponents chanted loudly nearby.

A Sixers spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Council could advance the arena legislation without the team’s support, a move that could force the Sixers’ hand. The team has repeatedly said it needs City Council to approve the arena before the end of the year to open the facility in 2031, when its lease ends at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia.

Johnson told reporters Wednesday that remains an option, but said “we wanna still work in partnership with the Sixers.”

Meanwhile, opponents of the arena are celebrating Johnson’s decision to delay the vote.

The No Arena Coalition has pushed for a $300 million CBA and said that anything less “sells our city to the lowest bidder.”

“No deal slapped together in the 11th hour is a good one for Philly. Council is selling out to go on a holiday break when our city needs champions — not Grinches,” the coalition said in a statement.

If approved, the 18,500-seat facility would sit steps from Chinatown, where many residents and business owners fear the arena will dismantle the 150-year-old neighborhood. They say the arena will create the kind of traffic congestion that will deter people from coming to the area, hurting hundreds of small businesses in the process.

Opponents have also raised concerns about displacement fueled by gentrification.

“The legislation that was delivered to City Council was dead on arrival because it did not address any of those issues,” said John Chin, executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation outside council chambers on Wednesday.

“It’s not over today. It’s not over tomorrow. There’s more fighting to happen,” Chin added.

The Sixers want to build the arena because they want a home of their own. For decades, the team has shared the Wells Fargo Center with the Flyers, an arrangement the team argues creates a scheduling headache while limiting the team’s ability to stay competitive in the NBA.

The Sixers also contend that a downtown arena would be an economic engine for Market East, a disjointed stretch that has struggled to thrive despite millions of dollars in investment. They say the arena would help change those fortunes by encouraging real estate developers to invest in the area, home to stretches with storefronts that are half-empty.

Mayor Cherelle Parker, and the city’s powerful building trades, have echoed those arguments while promoting the arena. Supporters have also touted the team’s claims that the arena will create hundreds of jobs and generate millions in new tax revenue for the city and its school district.