By Adam L. Cataldo
Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Chicago will get a one-time payment of about $1.16 billion to lease 36,000 metered parking spaces as part of a bid from Morgan Stanley, Mayor Richard Daley said in a statement.
The City Council must approve the proposed 75-year lease, which it is scheduled to consider Dec. 4, Daley said. The agreement also requires Chicago to increase parking meter rates over a five-year period.
“This agreement is very good news for the taxpayers of Chicago because it will provide more than $1 billion in net proceeds that can be used during this very difficult economy,” Daley said.
Chicago will use $325 million to balance this year’s budget and spending plans through 2012. About $324 million will go into a contingency fund.
Parking rates in the city’s Loop business section would more than double over five years to $6.50 per hour from $3 today beginning Jan. 1, the start of Chicago’s fiscal year. Residential neighborhood rates would rise as much as eightfold during that same period to $2 from as little as 25 cents. Drivers pay for parking in residential areas between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., a document released by the city said.
Enforcement
The city will continue to take responsibility for parking law enforcement under the leasing plan, Lisa Schrader, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
Two units of Morgan Stanley established a new company, Chicago Parking Meters LLC, to submit their bid. Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners A Sub LP owns 76 percent of the company, and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners LP owns 23 percent. The remaining 1 percent is owned by a combination of other groups, the city said in a statement.
In September, Chicago accepted a $2.52 billion bid to lease Midway International Airport for 99 years to a group of private bidders that included Citigroup Inc. In December 2006, Morgan Stanley closed a deal that paid the city $563 million for a 99- year lease of the city’s parking garages.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam L. Cataldo in New York at acataldo@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 2, 2008 17:45 EST
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