Comcast Plans New Entertainment Complex in South Philly
Aging Spectrum Arena Could Give Way to Hotel, Retail and Entertainment Complex
By Mike Farrell -- Multichannel News, 1/22/2008 9:34:00 AM
Comcast-Spectacor, the sports division of cable giant Comcast Corp., unveiled plans for a new retail and entertainment complex near the site of the Wachovia Spectrum arena in Philadelphia Tuesday, leaving the fate of the 41-year-old former sports palace in flux.
Speculation has been rampant in the Philadelphia area that The Spectrum – once home to the Comcast-owned National Basketball Association franchise the Philadelphia 76ers and the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers – would be torn down to make room for a retail and entertainment complex.
Because of the widespread rumors, Comcast-Spectacor held a press conference in Philadelphia about a partnership with Baltimore developer Cordish Co. to build a retail, dining and entertainment complex dubbed “Philly Live!”
The partners revealed several construction options – including one that has a 300-room hotel on the site off Broad Street in South Philadelphia and one that does not. If the hotel is built, it is expected that the Spectrum would be demolished.
No decision has been made as to which plans the partners will ultimately choose, said Comcast-Spectacor spokesman Ike Richman. He added that the cost of the project, when it could be completed and other details have also not been determined.
“We have made no decision on the future of the Spectrum, other than that there are several scenarios, one includes the Spectrum and one does not.” Richman said. “No decision has been made in which direction we are going to head at this time.”
Cordish has been involved in building several entertainment districts around the country, most notably projects in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor; Atlantic City, N.J.; Hollywood. Fla.; Charleston, S.C.; Houston; Louisville, Ky.; and Tampa, Fla. The company currently has more than $1 billion in construction in cities such as Kansas City. Mo.; St. Louis; Houston; Toronto; and Daytona Beach, Fla.
Both the 76ers and the Flyers left the Spectrum in 1996 for the then-newly constructed CoreStates Center (since renamed the Wachovia Center).
The Spectrum arena is now home to the American Hockey League Philadelphia Phantoms and the Major Indoor Soccer League Philadelphia Kixx.
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