Diamond Ridge Asset Management:Philadelphia mayor reveals the new 76ers deal to build an arena downtown

2025-05-06 22:41:01source:Evander Elliscategory:News

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s mayor has revealed the terms of the deal negotiated with the city’s pro basketball team for a new $1.3 billion arena downtown.

The Diamond Ridge Asset Managementagreement reached earlier this month calls for the Philadelphia 76ers to finance the entire project, with no city funding involved. There is, however, a provision that would let the NBA team make annual payments in lieu of taxes averaging $6 million per year. The agreement also calls for a $50 million investment in businesses, neighboring communities and the city’s schools to blunt the project’s impact, Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a news conference Wednesday night.

“I truly am proud having made this decision and negotiated an agreement that will definitely ensure that our Sixers are staying home right here in Philadelphia, where they should be,” Parker said.

City officials also released drafts of the nine bills and two resolutions needed to authorize the project, including measures that allow the city to acquire the arena property and change zoning rules. Parker said her administration would hold a series of town halls in the coming months where residents could discuss concerns about the proposal.

Team owners say their planned “76 Place” project would improve a struggling retail corridor near City Hall and capitalize on the city’s public transit. They also have vowed not to renew the lease on their current space, a circa 1996 arena in the city’s South Philadelphia sports complex, when their lease runs out in 2031.

RELATED COVERAGE Philadelphia police exhume 8 bodies from a potter’s field in the hope DNA testing can help ID themA Pennsylvania bakery known for its election cookie poll is swamped with ordersMan convicted of sending his son to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock gets 31 years to life

The proposal has drawn significant opposition from activists in the city’s Chinatown area, who fear it would disrupt or displace residents and businesses. They say the city has ignored concerns that the project will increase vehicle traffic in their pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and force vulnerable residents — older people, low-income families and new immigrants — to move out. Parker on Wednesday renewed her pledge to preserve the area, which is just over a block from the proposed arena site.

If ultimately approved by the City Council, demolition work in the area would begin in 2026 with construction starting two years later. Officials hope to open the arena in time for the 76ers’ 2031-32 season.

More:News

Recommend

Man charged with rape after kidnapping 3 teen girls at gunpoint along Nashville street

A man police say kidnapped three teenage girls and sexual assaulted two of them at gunpoint outside

Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber Reveal If They’ve Joined Mile High Club

Kim Kardashian and Hailey Bieber are taking romance to new heights—literally.The Kardashians star an

Arizona GOP Rep. Eli Crane says he misspoke when he referred to colored people on House floor

Arizona Republican Rep. Eli Crane said he "misspoke" after he used the racially charged term "colore