CAMDEN, NJ — To lure the Philadelphia 76ers across the river, New Jersey is offering up to $400 million in tax breaks and outlining plans for a sprawling mixed-use waterfront development.
In a letter Monday, the administration of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said it envisions a multibillion-dollar plan for the city of Camden that includes residential, commercial and retail properties, with the Sixers as the anchor.
The pitch from Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan comes as the team and Philadelphia negotiate a future $1.3 billion arena the team had announced near the city’s Chinatown neighborhood. The team said The company does not plan to remain in Wells Fargo Arena in the city’s Stadium District after 2031, when its lease expires.
The Sixers, who already have a training complex and headquarters in Camden, called New Jersey’s offer “thoughtful and compelling,” though the team is still in talks with Philadelphia leaders about a new arena in the city.
“The reality is that we are running out of time to reach an agreement that will allow the 76ers to open our new home in time for the 2031-32 NBA season,” team spokesperson Molly Mita McEndy wrote in an email. “As a result, we must take all possible options seriously, including this one.”
A spokesman for the Philadelphia mayor’s office declined to comment on New Jersey’s offer or the status of its own negotiations.
At an unrelated event in the Philadelphia suburbs on Tuesday, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said the team wants to stay in Philadelphia and that he has not been asked or offered any tax breaks.
“I love the Sixers,” he said. “They belong in Philadelphia.”
The team’s move to a part of the city a block away from Chinatown comes as some in the community are concerned that on-street parking could disappear, traffic could increase and it could become more difficult to organize festivals.
New Jersey’s offer comes just months after the state attorney general has charged criminal racketeering charges against a Democratic power broker from Camden, as well as a former mayor of the city and others over what he said were their roles in orchestrating legislation for tax breaks and profiting from them. He and the others have denied the charges and are fighting them in court.
___ The story has been corrected to reflect that the 76ers’ proposed location in Philadelphia is near the Chinatown neighborhood, not in it.