Sixers: Camden training facility will be NBA's biggest

The Philadelphia 76ers said their 125,000-square foot training facility and team headquarters now under construction will be the largest such facility in the NBA, and offer plenty of opportunity for “forward-thinking” corporate partnerships.

“In designing the basketball operations facility we pulled inspiration from the most cutting-edge sports medicine, wellness, and recovery practices from leagues, teams, and sport disciplines across the world,” said Sam Hinkie, general manager of the Sixers. “We challenged ourselves to create a 24/7 destination for our players’ physical and mental needs.

Erection of the buildings’ structural steel is near completion, and, by mid-May. the basketball operations facility’s exterior wall, roofing, and window systems will be in place. The Sixers expect the training facility to open for player use during the fourth quarter of this year.

Among the features of the complex at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Delaware Avenue in Camden are:

•     2,800-square-foot player locker room;
•     10,000 square feet of mixed-use commercial space;
•     7,000-square-foot roof deck;
•     40-foot lap pool with a built-in hydraulic platform;
•     Glass walls and window systems that will dominate the exterior and interior framework throughout  the basketball operations facility;
•     Performance, wellness, recovery, and hydrotherapy rooms; and
•     A media production studio in the business operations office.

The complex will also have a 4,000-square foot sign that will be visible from the Philadelphia side of the Delaware River.

“We challenged ourselves to make this training complex an innovative space for our players as well as our corporate partners,” said Chris Heck, Philadelphia 76ers Chief Revenue Officer. “The training complex provides us the opportunity to create forward thinking, dynamic corporate partnerships that will challenge and raise the standard of the traditional sponsorship model. Our current training complex partners have plans to activate in impactful ways, maximizing the visibility and social responsibility of their partnership. We are currently entertaining conversations with potential naming rights partners who appreciate the enormous opportunities in publicity, physical exposure, exclusive access, and community engagement that this training complex affords like no other.”

Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex corporate partners currently include Tozour Energy Systems, RAI Inc., PA Flooring, and OxBlue. The project team includes Threesixty Architecture, Jacobs, Intech Construction, and AthenianRazak LLC.

Firstrust Bank of Conshohocken, which earlier this month became the team’s new bank partner, is providing the team with a $44 million loan for the project.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority in 2014 approved up to $82 million in tax credits for the Sixers as an enticement to build the complex in Camden — which will bring more than 200 jobs to the city.

Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd said she was pleased by the progress on the complex and the commitment the Sixers have made to Camden “through various community engagement activities like volunteering to beautify our neighborhoods, holding basketball and cheering clinics, or simply connecting with our residents.… I look forward to a promising long-term partnership with the Sixers.”

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal