Renovations to Wells Fargo Center will see corridors "double in width" when completed in '20, while luxury suites will be "eliminated in favor of a more open-spaced and socially interactive 'fan experience' areas and bunker luxury boxes," according to Sam Donnellon of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Comcast Spectacor President, Chair & CEO Dave Scott in '16 hired architectural firm Brisbin Brook Beynon for the renovations, and workers "revamped all of the mid-level luxury suites" ahead of that summer's Democratic National Convention. At the end of this month, "much of the building’s outside wall will come tumbling down" to be replaced "largely by glass, drawing the city’s ever-expanding skyline into the Wells Fargo Center along with a new breed of fan." When finished, the renovation is "estimated to cost" $250M. That is $40M "more than what it took to build" the original venue. Wells Fargo Center currently has 120 private luxury boxes, and Scott said the renovations will bring "more lounge areas, more social areas." He noted the upper balcony has capacity for 1,100 people and said that is seen as a "social media place, younger -- just hanging out." Scott: “I’d say 80 percent [of our fans] are happy with what we have now. But we have to attract other fans and to do that, you need a different experience.” Donnellon notes the "most important changes fans will notice is the openness of the corridors, particularly at the end of the arena." Outside the arena, there are "early-stage plans for apartments separated by a groved path that leads like a yellow-brick road towards Philly’s skyline" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/7).
