Officials in New Jersey are reportedly in talks with the Philadelphia 76ers to build the team’s new arena across the Delaware River in Camden, reports ROI-NJ.
Negotiations have intensified over the last two months as the current proposal to build the arena on the border of Philadelphia Chinatown has met with resistance.
Community members fear the arena would push rents in Philadelphia’s Chinatown skywards and that increased traffic would discourage visitors to the area.
The team’s headquarters are already in Camden and the ownership group already owns the the professional hockey team, the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League, Clutch Points reports.
However, team owner David Adelman has pledged the team would not leave the city.
The team remains optimistic the Chinatown arena will be built.
“We are hopeful to reach an agreement with the city this summer to ensure legislation is introduced in early September, which will allow the 76ers to open our new home in time for the 2031-32 season,” a team spokesperson said to ROI-NJ.
According to Sports Talk Florida, this is not the first time an arena in Camden has been discussed. The idea came up in 1993, but nothing was finalized.
In 2020, the Delaware River Front Corporation rejected an idea to build an arena at Penn’s landing.
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The city should step in and force the penns landing site or find another spot along the river and develop it into an arena friendly area,mass transit..parking and even build a 95 off ramp directly to it. Phila waterfront is so behind and under utilized,even with the new construction plans, look @ baltimores waterfront compared to ours.
Nothing here to see. Amazing how opportunities keep leaving Philadelphia. Same mistakes, Different Days. No slots for tots 👎 no money from sports to fund schools😢 no casinos in North Philadelphia where the improvised see more crime,violence and despair. If NOTHING CHANGES, NOTHING CHANGES. THE Black Votes still mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. OUR BLACK ELECTED OFFICIALS CAN DO NOTHING TO HELP.
I think the Camden option is a Win-Win. The Camden waterfront is a gold mine waiting to be discovered and to clog up Chinatown with potential road rage is a half-baked notion.
‘Tis people like you who are content to see our city go deeper and deeper down the drain. Smh
The old Franklin Mills / Philadelphia Mall would be a perfect location instead of desecrating China Town or moving the business revenue out of state. The developers who want to build houses in that area ( Philadelphia Mall) could find another location I’m sure.
Build in Chinatown, forget what those NIMBYs have to say.
Saying Market East is Chinatown is like saying City Hall is in the Gayborhood. People fail to realize that if the arena plan doesn’t work, Fashion District and the bus terminal will sit abandoned for a decade, leaving the area in a worse situation that its even in now. Just consider for a second, who is going to buy a bankrupt mall, even if its to repurpose it for housing, which would be incredibly expensive. City officials are strongly considering this not to slight Chinatown or anything of that sort, but because its the only plausible offer on the table to develop that property into something of use, and potentially encourage car-centric Philadelphians to consider taking the train once or twice a month.