The 76ers plan on “breaking ground on a brand new practice facility this October located on the Camden waterfront” after renting practice space on a single court at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia since '99, according to a source cited by Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com. A source said that the facility is “expected to open before” the ‘16 season and the more than 100,000-square-foot facility is “expected to be the largest” in the NBA. The same source said the team chose Camden over Philadelphia because the tax breaks in New Jersey allowed the team to "double" the size of the facility. The entire 76ers operations staff -- from the players on the court, to the front office, to the marketing team -- is “expected to be housed in the facility.” 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil said, “As part of our due diligence related to a new Training Center, we have officially filed an application for a site along the New Jersey waterfront in Camden.” Shorr-Parks wrote the 76ers' “decision to invest in a new facility shows their commitment to rebuilding the franchise both on-and-off the court.” The vote from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority is “expected to take place” tomorrow (NJ.com, 6/6). In Philadelphia, Pompey, Terruso & Graham cited a source as saying that the cost of the facility is “still undetermined,” but another source said that it is a “dollar-for-dollar deal” -- meaning if the team spent $50M on a facility, it would be entitled to $50M in tax credits. A source: "At the end of the day, (the Sixers) kept saying if they could take all the saving they could get from tax savings and punch it into bigger and nicer facilities, the only thing they are really focusing on is player development. They got a 100,000-square foot interest deal." Pompey, Terruso & Graham wrote the facility would be a “major coup for the city even if it does little to bolster its tax base” (PHILLY.com, 6/6).
