A proposed $2.5 billion development program aims to transform parts of South Philadelphia’s sports complex into a more diverse, year-round community anchored by the site’s three major sports centers.
Announced Feb. 27 by Comcast Spectacor, owner and operator of the Wells Fargo Center, the initial phase of the $700 million program calls for the construction of a 5,500-seat concert hall, a 250-key hotel and new areas dining and retail, all of them. it will be located in the existing surface parking lots adjacent to the multipurpose covered pavilion. Construction will begin “in the coming months,” Comcast Spectacor says, and could be completed by 2028.
Phase 1 also includes $12 million in improvements to Xfinity Live!, the sports complex’s 12-year-old dining and entertainment district developed and operated by Comcast Spectator and The Cordish Cos. Construction will begin later this year, this part of the project includes exterior and interior improvements, as well as the improvement of the outdoor plaza of Xfinity Live! with built-in seating areas, terraces and gardens to support game day activities, festivals and community events.
No contractor or design firm has been announced for the proposed phase one elements. Upgrades to the plaza should be completed by 2025 or early 2026, according to a statement from Comcast Spectacor-Cordish Cos., which noted the partnership is committed to repeating the 45 percent minority and local ownership achieved during construction initial Xfinity Live! on the site of the demolished Spectrum arena.
Over the next decade, Comcast Spectacor hopes to implement the second phase of the plan: the development of more than 2,000 residential units along with retail, restaurants and green space on the existing parking lots adjacent to Citizens Bank Park, owned by the city of Philadelphia. To move forward, Comcast Spectacor will need to secure development rights and additional buy-in from interested parties, and commit to building replacement parking lots for the baseball stadium.
“Phase 2 presents an aspirational vision to create a new live-work community in and around existing sports and entertainment venues,” Comcast Spectacor President and CEO Dan Hilferty said in a statement. “This place-making approach has been implemented in major cities across the country, and we think Philadelphia deserves it, too.”
Construction competition
It is also uncertain whether Comcast Spectacor’s plans for the Sports Complex will be enough to lure the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers to remain as the anchor tenant of the 30-year-old Wells Fargo Center, which recently completed a four years and 400 million dollars. upgrade that included interior renovations, new entrance canopies and massive exterior LED panels totaling over 10,500 square feet.
In 2022, the team announced plans for a new 18,500-seat facility to partially replace an existing mall located above an underground regional train station in downtown Philadelphia. Targeted to open in 2031, the arena would anchor a $1.55 billion Gensler-designed mixed-use complex that would also include ground-floor restaurants and retail and a 395-unit, 20-story residential tower.
Vertical construction is currently scheduled to begin in 2028, provided the project passes muster with various city agencies, a process that began last fall with a master plan review by a design advisory committee multidisciplinary civic. The proposal has also met resistance from residents and business owners in the nearby historic Chinatown district, amid fears of economic and social disruption. They also say the area would be better served if the redevelopment of the shopping center turns into more community-focused spaces.
