Penn Valley native and billionaire developer David Adelman is the man leading the push to build a new 76ers arena in Center City, writes Jordan Levy for Billy Penn.

When the team went public with its plans to build a downtown arena, it also announced the existence of a new development corporation, 76 Devcorp, chaired by Adelman. The corporation was specifically formed to further the effort to bring an arena to 10th and Market streets.

The 50-year-old developer is a long-term investor in Philadelphia housing stock. He started as a teenager, when he gave developer Alan Horwitz $2,000 of his bar mitzvah money to invest in a property at 45th and Pine streets.

Horwitz, the founder of Campus Apartments, continued to mentor Adelman over the years. In 1997, Adelman succeeded him as Campus Apartments CEO and has since been growing his holdings.

Now, he has been given “a mandate to locate, design, and develop a destination that serves as a world-class arena facility” by 76ers managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer. He will work on the project with Mosaic Development Partners.

The arena is projected to open in September 2031.

Read more about David Adelman at Billy Penn.