Transportation Department Recommends One Contractor Manage City’s Nine Public Parking Garages

Pasadena’s Department of Transportation is recommending that the management and operation of all nine city-owned garages be consolidated in one contractor, instead of the current three, in order to streamline operations, reduce expenses and increase operational efficiency.

The recommendation came out as a result of at least two separate audits of the city’s parking operations – in 2018 and 2019 – which found the current three contracts follow different standards and terms and don’t provide a universal and more manageable approach to managing and operating these garages.

Under the current set-up, the three Old Pasadena garages (Schoolhouse, DeLacey and Marriott) are operated by Parking Concepts, Inc. Five of the six Civic Center garages (Holly, Paseo Subterranean, Los Robles, Marengo and Del Mar) are operated by Modern Parking, Inc. The sixth Civic Center garage (Plaza Las Fuentes) is operated by ABM, under a contract with Downtown Properties on behalf of the city.

The audits in 2018 and 2019 also found that limiting the number of parties involved in operating the structures would mean tighter controls over parking revenues, cost savings due to economies of scale and improved risk management.

A more significant result of the audit also helped the Transportation Department determine that the City could save over $2 million annually by having one operator for all nine garages: Paseo Subterranean, Marengo, Los Robles, Holly Street, Del Mar Station, Schoolhouse. DeLacey, Marriott and Plaza Las Fuentes.

“Combining all the garages under one operator will allow for a more efficient staffing plan that not only saves labor costs but also provides more consistent positive customer service experience to the garage system patrons,” the Department of Transportation said.

The statement added awarding the contract to a single contractor would be key to managing operating costs and to “restoring the long-term health” of Fund 407, or the city’s Parking Garage Fund.

After a request for proposal was published in June, and following an evaluation committee’s work on six proposals that were submitted, the department said the proposal from Los Angeles-based Parking Concepts, Inc. has received the highest score on the basis of the firm’s management, operation and maintenance program and its cash management, reporting and audit program.

The evaluation panel consisted of two staff members from the Department of Transportation, one municipal parking professional from the city of Long Beach, one municipal parking professional from the city of Santa Ana and one representative from the Old Pasadena Management District.

Parking Concepts, Inc., or PCI, currently operates the Old Pasadena garages – Schoolhouse, DeLacey, and Marriott – and have successfully operated them for the last 18 years with an “excellent track record,” a Department of Transportation report said.

The recommendation said the initial three-year contract will be worth $9,028,819, with the city manager being allowed the discretion to extend it for two additional one-year terms.

Annual funding for the contract will come from utilization of the existing budget appropriations under Fund 407 for 2022 and succeeding fiscal years, the recommendation said.