A relatively major change has been made to the 76 Place proposal that is awaiting the rubber stamp of City Council.
According to Paul Schwedelson of The Philadelphia Business Journal, the 25-story apartment tower that had been part of prior iterations of the plan for an arena in Center City has been scrapped:
"Eliminating the $250 million tower came at the request of Councilman Mark Squilla, whose district includes the Market East arena site, based on negative feedback from the community.
The Sixers had designated 79 apartments, or 20% of the 395-unit tower, for affordable housing. The residential tower would have lifted the arena’s privately funded price tag from $1.3 billion to $1.55 billion."
For residents near the arena already in the place they expect to live for the foreseeable future, they may fear that a building that large could lead to overcrowding and just generally not be aesthetically pleasing.
At the same time, there's a lack of affordable housing in pretty much every city in the country right now, and Philadelphia is no exception. Anyone who is renting in the city or hopes to one day rent in the city would have benefitted from as many affordable options as possible to live at.
It should be noted that Schwedelson goes on to say that the $1.3 billion figure — which Sixers ownership has pledged to pay for without taxpayer money — does still include 720 residential units in the area being developed. But that number would have been 1,115 with the now nixed-apartment building.
Back in September, Mayor Cherelle Parker — whose administration will likely be defined by the outcome of this arena proposal — pledged her support for 76 Place.
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
The only remaining obstacle for 76 Place — which would drastically change the Market East area, among other parts of Center City — is approval from City Council. A date for a vote by the 17-member council has not yet been set, although Schwedelson notes that the City Council is "likely to vote on the project in the coming months."
Image at the top of the article courtesy of Gensler
