Comcast Spectacor, Phillies join forces on massive $2.5B project
The Phillies say they’re partnering with Flyers owner Comcast Spectacor in the company’s plan to turn some of the boundless parking lots of the South Philadelphia stadium district into a dynamic, year-round sports-and-entertainment complex.
The baseball team announced Thursday that it would join in seeking development rights and other approvals from the government for what is projected to be a 10-year, $2.5 billion metamorphosis.
The project, if completed, would put restaurants, shops, hotels, apartments, and a 5,500-seat performance stage on acres of asphalt that fill with cars on event days but otherwise stand empty.
“When I think about what makes Philadelphia unique, it’s our incredible fan base and tight-knit community,” Phillies managing partner and CEO John Middleton said in a statement. “This project focuses on expanding that community and bringing in more residents, workers and visitors.”
The new spaces, he said, would give Philadelphians even “more opportunities to celebrate the passion and pride we have for our city and our teams.”
The Phillies announcement adds additional civic heft and financial strength to a proposal that drew skepticism for its timing when it was announced last month. Comcast Spectacor, which also owns the Wells Fargo Center, opposes the tenant Sixers’ intention to depart the center and move to their own Center City arena in 2031.
That fed speculation that
the South Philadelphia plan was a ploy to weaken the Sixers position and stop them from leaving. Comcast Spectacor executives said that wasn’t so, that the proposal for a big transformation had been in the works for some time.
Comcast Spectacor is the local sports and entertainment arm of communications giant Comcast, its newly renovated Wells Fargo Center the decadeslong home of the Flyers and Sixers.
Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Daniel Hilferty has said he would welcome the Sixers return and wants them to join in the project that now includes the Phillies.
“John Middleton and the Phillies share a big and bold dream for what the future could look like for Philadelphia,” Hilferty said in a statement on Thursday. “John’s input and support of the vision has been so valuable from the very early stages, and our partnership with the Phillies will strengthen the ongoing growth and revitalization of the South Philadelphia community.”
Asked if the project would require public tax dollars, the company said that it was still working on an estimated cost, and that there were many ways to finance the development.
Wells Fargo Center president Phil Laws said the physical structures on the property would be privately funded, not solely by Comcast Spectacor and the Phillies but by development partners who have expertise in creating places like hotels and apartments. The projected financing around parts of the project that involve public facilities, like the nearby SEPTA station and I-95, was still being worked out, he said.
The goal is to turn the Sports Complex, where the city’s three major-league venues stand within blocks of one another, into much more of a destination and neighborhood.
If built, the development would be designed to eventually connect to nearby FDR Park and the campus of the Navy Yard, which recently broke ground on its first new housing in 30 years.