PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Commanders are starting fresh under owner Josh Harris. Now that Harris has a new head coach and general manager in place, the Chevy Chase native is turning his attention to a new stadium for his team and fans.
And the Commanders stadium project could present the same opportunities, and challenges, as one Harris is trying to pull off in Philadelphia for, where he has a $1.3 billion vision to revitalize the once thriving Market East business district in downtown Philly. A sleek, new state-of-the-art arena and retail center for his basketball team, the 76ers. Harris calls it “76 Place.”
“If we’re not able to get this project done, we haven’t seen anything that will change the direction in which [Market East] has been going now,” said Tad Brown, CEO of Harris’s company, Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment (HBSE.)
WUSA9 walked the site of the proposed new arena, a fledgling shopping mall called Fashion District Philadelphia, with Brown and David Gould, HBSE’s Chief Diversity Officer.
Gould estimates 70-80% of storefronts in the area now sit vacant.
“And so our hope is we put the arena here, we drive more foot traffic and investment,” Gould said. “And really help bring this corridor back to life and be an economic driver for the city.”
But although Josh Harris and his leadership team are all in on a new downtown arena in Philadelphia, some people in Philly are not all in on Harris’s plan. The loudest complaints are in Chinatown, which borders Harris’s proposed arena site.
“As a community, we are united. We don’t want this in Chinatown,” said Xu Lin, owner of Bubblefish Sushi Restaurant, which sits blocks from the proposed arena site.
Min says traffic concerns and potential competition from new bars and restaurants are part of a doomsday scenario in which Chinatown and its residents are pushed out by Harris’s project.
“If the arena is built my restaurant will not survive,” Lin said. “Chinatown will disappear. So, I will fight to the last minute.”
Lin believes that even though he admits foot traffic and business in Chinatown still have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. And he rejects claims from supporters of Harris’s project would actually help his business, not hurt it.
“When we went to D.C. Chinatown, it was not the case for them,” Lin said.
Min is referring to the gutting of Chinatown in D.C. when the MCI Center, now Capital One Arena, was built. Representatives with HBSE argue the projects are totally different and even address that concern on a website touting the project.
Still the challenges Harris is facing building 76 Place could be a preview of what he might face when he tries to build a new football stadium for the Commanders. Harris hasn’t even announced a location yet, and already community groups are organizing opposition to a potential return to RFK, holding regular meetings.
Back in Philadelphia, Councilmember Mark Squilla, who represents the district where 76 Place would be built, said his office is flooded with calls on the issue.
“It’s probably the most lobbied project that I’ve had since I’ve been elected here,” Squilla said.
Harris has pledged the arena will come at no cost to Philly taxpayers, pledging 76 Place will be financed through a combination of equity and debt, along with advertising and sponsorship revenue. He’s estimating the arena will bring 12,200 jobs and inject $2.3 billion of economic impact into downtown Philadelphia, generating $1.5 billion in new tax revenue over 30 years.
“As a person with obviously a lot of resources, they like to think they are coming into a city presenting the best possible vision for the city,” Squilla said. “But obviously when they are doing that they want the best possible vision for themselves.”
Brown said Harris is driven by a win-win business philosophy when planning projects like arenas and stadiums.
“It's about making sure that not only is this a business decision and a decision for the team and for the organization, it's really something that is going to live in the community here for generations,” Brown said.
Squilla is now waiting on economic impact studies ordered by the city, and paid for by HBSE, before deciding on whether to move the project forward, adding city approval for 76 Place is not a guarantee “at this point.”
“We’re not going to make everybody happy with our decision,” Squilla said. “And the one thing you learn is you don’t know the key to success but the key to failure is to try to please everyone.”
The 76ers say they’ve collected 30,000 signatures supporting the new arena. And the project has the support of unions and leaders in the Black community.
“When we look at the barriers to Black ownership and sustainability, we need more projects like this,” said Regina Hairston, President and CEO of the local African-American Chamber of Commerce of PA, NJ & DE, which has publicly backed the proposal.
“Too often, Black business leaders are invited to take the picture when we’re cutting the ribbon,” Hairston said. “[HBSE] didn’t do this. They engaged us from the beginning.”
Still, opponents including the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance continue to organize protests, often in front of Philadelphia City Hall, to stop the project from going forward.
“They know what happens if this arena gets built," said Executive Director Mohan Seshadri. “They know Chinatown is going to get destroyed."
But Hairston doesn’t believe that and said Philadelphia needs 76 Place.
“Everyone is going to have an opinion about this,” Hariston said. “If Philadelphia is going to be the Philadelphia that we say we want it to be, projects like this, they have to have a chance.”
As CEO of HBSE, Brown said he, and Josh Harris, hear the concerns but added the Commanders owner is more focused on doing what he believes is right for the community where he’s building a basketball arena – or a football stadium.
“So, we’re probably not going to make everybody see things exactly the way we would like be it here or anywhere else,” Brown said. “But we’re going to be open and transparent and try to make sure that they understand that we care, and we want to have the dialogue about it.”
Brown said the project in Philadelphia will not impact the timeline for a new Commanders stadium, although it remains unclear what that timeline will be. Harris told WUSA9 he hopes to have more to say about a new Commanders stadium in the coming months.