PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The 76ers’ downtown arena proposal got a cool reception at a special Civic Design and Review Committee meeting Monday, where the committee voted to call the developer back for a second meeting on the design.
On a Zoom call with the committee and the public, arena developers presented plans that are, by now, familiar: a glass façade, a pedestrian bridge, a residential tower, street-level retail, a plan for ingress and egress, and connections to the surrounding community.
Developer Sherveen Baftechi said his company wants to “revitalize and reimagine” Market Street between 10th and 11th.
“Our goal has been and will be to create a world-class experience not just for the event-goer but, more importantly, an enhanced everyday experience for the district and the entire city of Philadelphia,” he said.
But the group got hammered during the public comment period, as not a single person spoke in favor of the design. For five hours, they challenged projections for traffic, parking, and security, as well as the impact on nearby communities — and even on birds.
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“The arena is too large for the small site, and the residential component is not developed very well,” said commenter George Claflin.
“We’ve got the lack of a proper plaza here, and that’s a significant shortcoming of this plan,” argued Mary Perzel.
Others asked what would happen on the 200 nights when there would be no events and when the arena reached the end of its natural life. Although the design team offered responses, the committee agreed that the developers didn’t provide enough detail and voted to continue the design review.
Committee member Dan Garofalo said the plan had potential, but he was not convinced it would work.
“Members of the community have really raised some great points,” he said. “In fact, we’ve never had an experience just like this one. There hasn’t been anyone [who spoke] in favor of this project.”
Fellow committee member Clarissa Redding said this could also be an opportunity.
“The comments that are made can have a meaningful impact on improving the quality of the design and the community’s perception of it,” she said.
There will be another meeting before the committee issues recommendations, though those are strictly advisory. It can’t require a developer to change its plans.
The next meeting has not yet been scheduled.