Revealed: How a super-modern Sixers stadium would look like in NJ
New Jersey has upped its game in trying to entice the 76ers to make the move across the river from Philadelphia.
A stunning rendering of a waterfront arena that could be built in Camden has been released by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, as the authority's CEO called it a "transformational project."
Space for the mixed use facility has been sitting, available, just north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, state officials said.
“The rendering shows the potential transformation of Camden’s waterfront at the former state prison site north of the Ben Franklin Bridge,” NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan said in a written statement.
“The proposed project is more than just a state-of-the-art arena; it’s open space, new housing, restaurants, and office space, which will help bring new, good-paying jobs to the city,” he continued.
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA team, would self-finance the project, ROI-NJ.com reported.
It would be eligible for hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives, the same report said.
The Sixers’ current lease at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia ends after the 2030-31 season.
The team was already planning to change venues — pitching a $1.55 billion arena, called 76 Place, adjacent to the city’s Chinatown neighborhood, Associated Press reported.
That arena would be built between Market and Filbert Streets and 10th and 11th Streets, in Philadelphia.
The ambitious proposal has sparked a good deal of public concern about gentrification of the area, South Philly Review recently reported.
If the Sixers were to move to Camden — it would not be the first time a major professional sports team uprooted across state lines to or from NJ.
In summer 2012, the NBA's Nets moved from Newark to Barclays Center in Brooklyn — after over 30 years of consecutive playing in NJ.
Over a decade later, there's still buzz among fans that some NBA team might return to the Garden State, Nets Insider has reported.
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Gallery Credit: New Jersey 101.5