City Sues Over $58 Million Parking Garage Tab
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 24, 2013 4:30PM
Remember that $57.8 million tab the city owes the group that manages the city’s parking garages because the Daley administration allowed a competitor to build a garage near Aqua Tower? Well, the Emanuel administration filed a lawsuit Thursday to try to chip away further at that tab.
The bill, which was ruled binding by an arbitration panel, means the city owes the money to Chicago Loop Parking LLC, which holds a 99-year lease on four parking garages. The lawsuit filed by the city charges the parking garage consortium no longer is entitled to the arbitration award because they cut a deal with the developer of Aqua tower to end public parking in the building’s garage, but this is dependent on if the city wins the lawsuit. Chicago Loop Parking originally sought $200 million in damages.
The deal the city cut with Magellan Development Corp. would pay Magellan anywhere between $22.6 million and $28.5 million.
Coty Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton laid the blame on the Daley administration. He told the Sun-Times the parking garage deal was another mess Emanuel “inherited.”
“We are doing everything we can to minimize the financial impact on the city and the taxpayers.”