Philadelphia sports fandom is one of the most difficult to explain phenomena that we can think of. The passion, the excitement, the brashness, and the knowledge of the game are mixed with a sense of existential dread, especially for those of us who grew up during the dearth of championships between 1983 and 2008, thanks in part to the Curse of Billy Penn. This past Sixers season encapsulates this perfectly, when the the Process finally and deservedly won the MVP, only to be followed by one of the most painful playoff exits out of the many, many, many, many, many that are part of the our collective sports memory. Now please excuse us a for a moment as we collect ourselves after watching those clips consecutively.
OK, we’re kind of better. Maybe.
Even though we only managed to wedge one development-related morsel into the above postseason catharsis, we promise this is actually about real estate development. Part of our job is doing detective work (see: reviewing zoning documents), and when we saw a zoning permit for 618-34 Market St., our Spidey Sense started going wild.
When looking at the zoning documents for the property via Atlas, there’s nothing obvious that comes up. However, on the daily zoning report that the City issues, something extremely interesting caught our eye. So interesting in fact, that we decided to take a screenshot just for posterity’s sake:
Did you see the mention of the Greyhound ticket station? The station currently sits at 1001 Filbert St., which we visited early last year when the parking area that sits on an adjacent property behind the station was chained off. We weren’t certain of what the plans were at the time, speculating that this could become an apartment tower or a hotel given its proximity to the Fashion District and the Convention Center.
The big news since then is the proposed 76 Place, the $1.3 billion, privately-funded arena which would sit where the Greyhound station is currently, along with a chunk of the aforementioned Fashion District. The 76 Place team is currently engaging with different community groups, as there has been substantial pushback from people in the adjacent Chinatown neighborhood. This isn’t the first time a sports team has had eyes on setting up shop in the vicinity, so we’d imagine there is still a long road ahead, as even the 76 Place team doesn’t expect demolition to occur until 2026. However, a permit was recently issued to remove a 12,000-gallon, underground storage tank from the site, so perhaps this is yet another baby step along the long path ahead.
So, will we be seeing 9x All-Star Tyrese Maxey bringing back-to-back titles to Market Street come 2033? It seems like things are leaning further in that direction, though the future is always uncertain. However, the recent mayoral primary election could have an impact on the outcome. If presumptive general election winner Cherelle Parker does indeed become our 100th (and very first woman) mayor, there will likely be a welcoming political environment, given her previous statements on a potential arena and her connections within the building trades. Does this mean the arena moving ahead is a slam dunk? Heck no! Even holding a lead late in Game 6 doesn’t guarantee a victory, as the Philly faithful were painfully reminded of yet again just the other day. So perhaps we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves planning out the parade route for ten years from now just yet. Still, dreaming of parades is better than the nightmare that was Game 7.