Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Philadelphia 76ers reportedly reverse course, won't build contentious $1.3B downtown stadium

News

Philadelphia 76ers reportedly reverse course, won't build contentious $1.3B downtown stadium
News

News

Philadelphia 76ers reportedly reverse course, won't build contentious $1.3B downtown stadium

2025-01-13 09:58 Last Updated At:10:01

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers have decided not to build a $1.3 billion downtown arena, a surprising move that comes just weeks after the team received approval for the controversial project from the city council.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday that multiple council members had confirmed the change in plans. The team has struck a deal with Comcast Spectacor to remain in the city's sports stadium district, the newspaper said, but further details about the new proposal have not been released.

The 76ers, the mayor's office and Comcast Spectator — which owns the Wells Fargo Center, where the team currently plays — did not respond Sunday to requests for comment. The team rents the arena from Comcast Spectacor, which also owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, who also play there.

Opponents of the arena's move to downtown celebrated the news.

Two City Council members who voted against the plan, Jamie Gauthier and Rue Landau, said the reversal shows that the 76ers' development arm had not dealt in good faith with the city.

“We’re glad that the Sixers will remain in the stadium district where they best belong. But the way they reached this decision reflects a profound lack of respect for City leaders, stakeholders, and residents," Gauthier and Rue said in a statement.

The 76ers' downtown development plan had pitted working-class Philadelphians against each another and the team had pressured City Council to consider a “half-baked” proposal that left open questions about gridlock and the displacement of the city's Chinatown section, they said.

The council had voted on Dec. 19 to approve the downtown arena after more than two years of heated debate over the proposal, and the owners of the NBA team had hoped to move in to what would be called 76 Place by 2031. The council vote came despite vocal opposition from nearby Chinatown residents and other activists.

“I’m so livid right now I don’t even know what to do,” Jimmy Harrity, an at-large member of the council, told the newspaper. Harrity, who supported the team’s move, said, “I feel as though I was used as a pawn.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat who had championed the plan, has said the entire city will benefit from what she called a “historic game-changing economic development project.” Supporters had hoped the 18,500-seat arena would help revive a distressed retail corridor called Market East, which runs from City Hall to the Liberty Bell. The area has struggled for years despite several redevelopment efforts.

The team owners, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, had pushed for city approval by year’s end so they could meet their target opening date. They had vowed not to ask the city for any construction funding, although they were free to seek state and federal funds. Instead of property taxes, they would have paid about $6 million in annual payments in lieu of taxes.

Opponents feared the arena would bring gridlock on game days as well as gentrification and rising rents to the area.

The Chinatown community has fought a series of proposed developments since the 1960s, including casinos, a prison, a baseball stadium and a highway, the last of which dissected the neighborhood when it opened in 1991.

The No Arena coalition that had formed to try to block the proposal said in a statement Sunday that City Council's embrace of the 76ers' proposal demonstrated that the city needs politicians who respond to “people's needs instead of corporate greed.”

“We’re relieved to hear that the nightmare of a Center City Sixers arena will not haunt our city any more," the group said in a statement. "To every Philadelphian who called, marched, testified, and warned City Hall that this was a raw deal: This win belongs to you, and the lesson for politicians is to trust the people."

FILE - Philadelphia 76ers mascot Franklin waves the flag during pre-game introductions prior to the NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, April 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, file)

FILE - Philadelphia 76ers mascot Franklin waves the flag during pre-game introductions prior to the NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, April 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday and renewed his insistence that Gaza could somehow be emptied of all residents, controlled by the U.S. and redeveloped as a tourist area.

It's an audacious, but highly unlikely, scheme to dramatically remake the Middle East and would require Jordan and other Arab nations to accept more Gazans — something Abdullah reiterated after their meeting that he opposes.

The pair met in the Oval Office with Secretary of State Marco Rubio also on hand. The president suggested he wouldn't withhold U.S. aid to Jordan or Egypt if they don't agree to dramatically increase the number of people from Gaza they take in.

“I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that," Trump said. That contradicted the Republican president's previous suggestion that holding back aid from Washington was a possibility.

Abdullah was asked repeatedly about Trump's plan to clear out Gaza and overhaul it as a resort on the Mediterranean Sea. He didn't make substantive comments on it and didn't commit to the idea that his country could accept large numbers of Gazans.

He did say, however, that Jordan would be willing “right away” to take as many as 2,000 children in Gaza who are suffering from cancer or otherwise ill.

“I finally see somebody that can take us across the finish line to bring stability, peace and prosperity to all of us in the region,” the king said of Trump in his statement at the top of the meeting.

Abdullah left the White House after about two hours and headed to Capitol Hill to meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. He posted on X that during his meeting with Trump, “I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”

“This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” Abdullah wrote.

That was despite Trump using his appearance with Abdullah to repeat suggestions that the U.S. could come to control Gaza. Trump also said Tuesday that it wouldn't require committing American funds but that the U.S. overseeing the war-torn region would be possible, “Under the U.S. authority,” without elaborating what that actually was.

“We’re not going to buy anything. We’re going to have it," Trump said of U.S. control in Gaza. He suggested that the redeveloped area could have new hotels, office buildings and houses, "and we’ll make it exciting.”

“I can tell you about real estate. They’re going to be in love with it,” Trump, who built a New York real estate empire that catapulted him to fame, said of Gaza's residents, while also insisting that he personally would not be involved in development.

Trump has previously suggested that Gaza’s residents could be displaced temporarily or permanently, an idea that leaders around the Arab world have sharply rebuked.

Additionally, Trump renewed his suggestions that a tenuous ceasefire between Hamas and Israel could be canceled if Hamas doesn't release all of the remaining hostages it is holding by midday on Saturday. Trump first made that suggestion on Monday, though he insisted then that the ultimate decision lies with Israel.

“I don’t think they’re going to make the deadline, personally," Trump said Tuesday of Hamas. "They want to play tough guy. We’ll see how tough they are.”

The king's visit came at a perilous moment for the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas is accusing Israel of violating the truce and says it will delay future releases of hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

In a statement, Hamas called Trump's Tuesday comments “racist” and “a call for ethnic cleansing.” It also accused the president of seeking to “liquidate the Palestinian cause and deny the national rights of the Palestinian people.”

Trump has repeatedly proposed the U.S. take control of Gaza and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” with Palestinians in the war-torn territory pushed into neighboring nations with no right of return.

Trump's Tuesday comments contradicted his Monday suggestions that, if necessary, he would withhold U.S. funding from Jordan and Egypt — longtime U.S. allies and among the top recipients of its foreign aid — as a means of persuading them to accept additional Palestinians from Gaza.

Jordan is home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said last week that his country’s opposition to Trump’s idea about displacing Gaza's residents was “firm and unwavering.”

Besides concerns about jeopardizing the long-held goals of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Egypt and Jordan have privately raised security concerns about welcoming large numbers of additional refugees into their countries even temporarily.

Trump announced his ideas for resettling Palestinians from Gaza and taking ownership of the territory for the U.S. during a press conference last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The president initially didn’t rule out deploying U.S. troops to help secure Gaza but at the same time insisted no U.S. funds would go to pay for the reconstruction of the territory, raising fundamental questions about the nature of his plan.

After Trump’s initial comments, Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that Trump only wanted Palestinians relocated from Gaza “temporarily” and sought an “interim” period to allow for debris removal, the disposal of unexploded ordnance and reconstruction.

But asked in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier that aired Monday if Palestinians in Gaza would have a right to return to the territory under his plan, he replied, “No, they wouldn’t.”

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

Jordan's King Abdullah II listens during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

Jordan's King Abdullah II listens during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

Jordan's King Abdullah II arrives at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

Jordan's King Abdullah II arrives at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, and Crown Prince Hussein at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump greets Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FILE - President Donald Trump stands with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, June 25, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump stands with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, June 25, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Recommended Articles