Ready or not, 76 Place seems to be coming.
According to Kevin Kinkead of Crossing Broad, the polarizing legislation for the center-city Sixers arena took a major step towards becoming a reality Thursday:
"The negotiations came down to the final hours, and centered on the community benefits agreement, which was originally a $50 million offer from the Sixers. After council pushed for $100 million, both sides settled on $60 million. The final vote was 12 to 4 in favor, with councilmembers Jamie Gauthier, Rue Landau, Jeffery Young and Nicolas O’Rourke voting no. Kendra Brooks was absent."
Nine of 17 councilmembers needed to vote in favor for push it out of committee, and it sounds like that threshold was cleared by multiple votes. (Imagine being absent for this of all votes.)
Kinkead says that full approval will be voted on Dec. 19.
Back in September, Mayor Cherelle Parker announced her support for the arena:
As your Mayor, I'm speaking from my City Hall office with a very important announcement. I am proud to share that I have made my decision, and an agreement has been reached to ensure that our Sixers are staying home.
I wholeheartedly believe this is the right deal for the People… pic.twitter.com/Fnj19mrBOV
One of the major criticisms of the downtown arena proposal is that it has the potential to create traffic gridlock if the improvements the Sixers will fund to Septa don't convince enough fans to take public transportation, rather than driving to the arena.
"Gridlock is guaranteed if more than 40% of spectators drive — a likely reality given that 85% of spectators currently drive to Wells Fargo Center, the traffic study showed," said the No Arena in the Heart of Our City Coalition.
To that end, FOX 29 notes that "a mass car caravan" is planned in Center City this evening from those who are against the arena, starting around 5:30:
"It will begin at 11th and Market streets, then head west on Market Street, north on 13th Street, south on 15th Street and around City Hall."
There's a good chance the caravan will be a major inconvenience in Center City Thursday evening. There's no indication at this point that will change what direction this all seems to be headed in, though.
Because they have not yet had an opportunity to look through the package that was voted out of committee, the Sixers declined comment when asked by On Pattison.
Update:
A Sixers spokesperson made a statement on the vote to OnPattison on Thursday afternoon:
"We appreciate City Council advancing these bills," they said. "This is an important next step in building 76 Place. We are reviewing the amendments that were added today to ensure they align with our understanding of our agreement with the City."
