City taking proposals to expand Midway Airport parking garage
Three months after a 15year, $ 75 million makeover of Midway Airport concessions was cleared for takeoff on a runway crowded with clouted contractors, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration is finally forging ahead with the next phase of his $ 323 million airport overhaul.
City Hall has issued a request for proposals for a “terminal parking garage expansion” that will give the land- locked Southwest Side airport 1,400 more premium parking spaces.
The ambitious makeover unveiled in 2015 called for Midway’s main parking garage to be expanded sideways to include four additional floors with 1,400more premium parking spaces. That will allow passengers to avoid time- consuming shuttle buses to remote parking. The new floors also will cover the CTA Orange Line stop, sheltering train riders from the elements.
The request for proposals due back June 27 includes far more detail. There is no cost estimate yet for the garage expansion; city officials will have a better idea once the proposals are in.
The work includes expanding the terminal parking garage over the city access road and CTA Orange Line rail yard; temporary relocation of CTA “kiss and ride” drop- off area; a new exit from Cicero Avenue; a dedicated vehicle lane to the parking facility; a new garage entrance bridge and plaza; and rebuilding the pedestrian walkway connecting the CTA station to the airport.
The project also includes a retrofit of the existing retaining wall; modernizing the terminal parking garage; new parking access and revenue control for the terminal garage and other airport facilities; replacing static and dynamic signs on surrounding roadways and at airport parking facilities; rehabbing the pavement on Kilpatrick Avenue and the exit plaza, and relocating regional bus departures.
Two years ago, Emanuel put a fork in plans to privatize Midway and took the airport’s future into his own hands by confronting Midway’s biggest weaknesses and passenger annoyances: parking, security and concessions.
Themayor took the wraps off what was then a $ 248 million overhaul that will add parking and concession space — and also expand security to 27 security lanes, up from 17, to unclog a notorious passenger bottleneck.
The dramatic increase in security checkpoints would be made possible by widening a pedestrian bridge over Cicero Avenue to 300 feet; it’s 60 feet wide now. That will create an 80,000- square- foot “security hall” with 20,000 square feet of additional concession space.
The parking garage and security hall contracts were supposed to go out to bid last year with construction to follow. The entire project was expected to be completed by 2020.
That ambitious timetable was pushed back — while the cost ballooned to $ 323 million — by nearly a year of behind- the- scenes maneuvering on the lucrative concession contract that spawned a demand for a federal investigation.
In February, the logjam was broken. The City Council chose Midway Partnership LLC to invest $ 75 million to renovate and expand Midway concessions.
Midway Partnership is a joint venture of SSP America Inc., Vantage Airport Group and Hudson Retail LLC. The politically connected Rand family that has operated Midway concessions for years is part of the deal, despite questions about the company’s eligibility as a minority subcontractor.
The concession makeover will be completed in phases to avoid disrupting passenger amenities. It got underway earlier this month when Midway Partnership brought in “21 new food and retail brands and several new amenities” for air travelers.
Ald. Mike Zalewski ( 23rd), the chairman of the City Council’s Aviation Committee whose ward includes Midway, could not be reached for comment on the proposed parking garage expansion.