When I interviewed Bea Reyna Hickey, the head of revenue (and parking) for the Windy City, she mentioned that the city’s goal was to turn all its off street parking over to the private sector. Their move this week, "going out" for bids on its four large underground garages continues this plan.
There is a PDF and a news release available here:
My spies tell me that the city is expecting the bids to come in around $25 million a year or more. Its obviously not for the faint of heart.
Why is the city doing this – Reyna Hickey told me that they want to get these valuable properties back on the tax rolls.
Makes sense in more ways that just that. Having the private sector do what it does best, run a business, will make parking in downtown Chicago even better than it is.
We’ll keep you posted
JVH
