{"id":210450,"date":"2025-01-14T10:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T15:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crossingbroad.com\/?p=210450"},"modified":"2025-01-14T10:33:19","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T15:33:19","slug":"if-it-wasnt-obvious-before-comcast-and-city-officials-want-to-turn-the-south-philly-sports-complex-into-atlantas-battery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crossingbroad.com\/2025\/01\/if-it-wasnt-obvious-before-comcast-and-city-officials-want-to-turn-the-south-philly-sports-complex-into-atlantas-battery.html","title":{"rendered":"If it Wasn’t Obvious Before, Comcast and City Officials Want to Turn the South Philly Sports Complex into Atlanta’s Battery"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you watched any of Monday’s press conference involving city officials, Comcast, and Sixers ownership, you heard them mention Atlanta’s Battery complex almost a dozen times. Mayor Cherelle Parker said way back in May<\/a> that she toured the mixed-use development with Comcast and Phillies executives when the Sixers were still working on their plan to leave South Philly and move to Market Street instead. Dan Hilferty brought up The Battery when we spoke to him in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Obviously that Center City plan is scrapped now, which adds the Sixers to the larger goal of revitalizing the stadium district by adding bars, restaurants, apartments, and all sorts of other stuff. These concepts were included in renderings Comcast put out last Summer<\/a>, with a “Phase 1” focused on upgrades to Xfinity Live, a 5,000 seat concert venue, a hotel, new retail and restaurants, and an outdoor plaza. The Xfinity upgrades were set to be finished this year or early 2026, with everything else slated for 2028.<\/p>\n

The Sixers’ pivot obviously changes things now. A new, larger indoor arena will be built over the next six years. Some people thought this was originally a leverage ploy and totally fake, but with HBSE reversing course in stunning fashion, it opens the door to move things forward.<\/p>\n

If you’ve never been to The Battery, or seen pictures of it, it’s like a little village of shops and apartments and public spaces around the Braves’ ballpark. They built it right at the intersection of two major highways in I-75 and I-285, the latter of which circles Atlanta and features about 7 million cars on it throughout most of the day. This is a suburban development and there was some controversy when the Braves left downtown and decided to go out to Cobb County. If you’re not familiar with the area, the CliffsNotes is that Atlanta is more or less a glorified suburb where everyone drives.<\/p>\n

Notably, Comcast became a Braves partner back in 2015, and they now have an office building right next to the ballpark, which serves as the Southeast Regional headquarters. The Cordish Companies operates a Live! venue down there, almost an exact copy of what they did with Xfinity here in Philly, and the still-relatively-new casino and hotel as well.\u00a0<\/em>There’s a music venue at the Battery operated by Live Nation, so it’s a familiar cast of characters and companies. You get the sense that they will replicate as much as possible here, the difference being mass transit access through the Broad Street Line and possible expansion into the Navy Yard, FDR Park, and Bellwether District.<\/p>\n

There’s also this:<\/p>\n

\n

If you’re wondering why every American sports team wants to build a mixed-use development around its venue, “The Battery” earned the Atlanta Braves $59 million in revenue last year. It’s now the team’s 3rd largest revenue-generating category (+ growing 10% annually). Incredible. pic.twitter.com\/4LgEiuhqOF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) March 14, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n