Returning to the parking lot where they had parked their cars to see a downtown show, a few dozen people found the garage locked with their cars inside last week.

According to CBS 2 News, many car owners attending WVON Radio’s 50th Anniversary celebration parked at a garage at 60 E. Randolph, handing their keys over to the valet service.

But when they came back, the garage had closed early with their keys and cars inside.

Now, the garage owners could be in trouble as city ordinance requires parking attendants to wait until the last customer retrieves their vehicle or, if they close to leave a note where car owners can get their keys to drive their car home.

The garage owner could be fined between $2000 to $10,000 for every customer that complains.

Here’s CBS 2′s full story, “Valet Parking Attendant Disappears, Stranding Couple Downtown Overnight.”

Police and 10 city tow trucks will be out in force starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday evening ticketing and towing cars parked on area residential streets which do not display the residential parking permits or guest passes with the LV-2 or 383 designations. The restrictions continue until 10 p.m.

The parking tickets carry a $50 fine, but drivers will also have to pay $160 to retrieve their car from the auto pound.

“We ask people to watch for parking signs in residential neighborhoods,” said Department of Streets and Sanitation spokeswoman Anne Sheahan. “We don’t want anyone getting parking tickets. Just be respectful of the neighborhood and watch for signs.”

The strict parking restrictions — in an area roughly bordered by Lake Shore Drive to the east, Ravenswood Avenue to the west, Belmont Avenue to the south and Montrose Avenue to the north — will be in effect for 27 Cubs night games this year, and possibly more.

Read more at DNA Info Chicago.

But some Wrigleyville residents are opposed to the idea of adding more parking in Lakeview.

According to DNA Info Chicago, a group of Lakeview residents claim the current lots and garages in the area are under utilized and building more parking spaces will increase traffic in an already congested neighborhood.

A petition has been started asking Ald. Tunney saying “Don’t Turn Lakeview into a Parking Lot,” and to pursue policies which promote alternative transportation methods which encourage bike riding, walking or public transportation.

About 200 people have signed the petition so far.

Here’s DNA Info’s full story, “More Parking Near Wrigley? Some Actually Say It’s a Bad Idea.”

Parking garage at 220 N. Wells. Photo courtesy of Spot Hero.com

Good news and bad news for drivers who park in Chicago parking lots and garages.

That’s because city parking taxes are both going up and down, under a new proposal by Mayor Rahm Emanuel according to the Chicago Tribune.

Currently, if drivers pay $12 or more to park in a garage or lot they are on the hook for an additional $5 parking tax.

If the parking fee is under $12, there is no additional tax.

Emanuel’s proposal is to charge a 20% tax on all parking fees.

This means motorists who utilize low cost parking and have avoided paying tax, will now have to start paying some taxes while those rates in the middle will see a decrease.

Drivers with high parking rates will see an increase in the total tax they pay according to the Tribune.

The city says it takes in $122 million a year in parking tax revenue, but expects the new tax structure to neither increase nor decrease the amount of parking revenue it takes in each year.

According to the story, Cook County is also considering a change in the way it levies taxes on parking.

Here’s the Chicago Tribune story, “Parking taxes could go up for some.”

That’s the question people in City Hall are probably asking after a ruling from an arbitrator directed the City of Chicago to cough up $57.8 million to compensate Chicago Loop Parking, LLC for a breach of contract according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Under former Mayor Richard Daley, back in 2006 the city signed a 99-year lease for $563 million to allow Morgan Stanley (now Chicago Loop Parking, LLC) to operate four city owned parking garages–Millennium Park garage, and the Chicago Park District’s Grant Park North, Grant Park South and East Monroe Street parking structures.

But the contract prevented the city from licensing any new parking garages or lots within a certain distance of the garages they managed. But, according to the Sun-Times story, within months of signing this lease agreement, the city allowed competing parking to be constructed in the nearby Aqua building and issued a license to Standard Parking to operate the parking garage.

Chicago Loop Parking believes they were losing substantial revenue from the parking at the Aqua building and originally asked for $200 million in damages.

While the city has 90 days to appeal, according to the contract, the arbitrator’s ruling is binding.

Morgan Stanley is also the main investor in Chicago Parking Meters, LLC, the lease holder of the 75-year lease for all of the city’s metered parking spaces.

CPM and the city are in arbitration over what the meter company claims is lost revenue due to times when street closures keep parking meters from generating revenue (street repair, festivals, utility work, etc.) and for an overuse of disabled parking placards where drivers park for free at meters. CPM has billed the city for nearly $60 million.

Here’s the Sun-Times full story, “City of Chicago hit with $57.8 million tab in parking garage snafu.”

Just a few weeks ago, local internet start-up SpotHero, with very little fanfare released their mobile parking app almost exactly a year after the company’s website first went live in July 2011.

The company, between winning awards, prizes and accolades for its concept has been growing its list of parking properties in their roster and now represents nearly 100 parking lots and garages in Chicago. In just over a year, the company has grown from its three founders to 10 full time employees and is entertaining the idea of expanding the SpotHero concept to other cities.

“If you’re driving in Chicago and not using SpotHero you’re missing out,” says SpotHero co-founder Mark Lawrence. “When we started SpotHero we wanted to make parking easier for ourselves and others. We want to make the parking experience much easier.”

The app, which is free to download, was two months in development according to Lawrence and is currently only available for iPhone users.

“It’s pretty simple,” laughed Lawrence, when asked why there’s no Android version so far. “Everyone at SpotHero had an iPhone–no one had an Android phone.”

How It Works

SpotHero’s new app allows for drivers to locate and price (often deeply discounted) parking on the fly via their iPhone and in real time. So we took SpotHero’s mobile app for a test drive recently to see firsthand how the technology works.

Up until now, it’s been difficult for drivers to find parking lots or garages near their destination and at the same time compare pricing. For example, most people driving downtown will get close to they need to be and then start looking for parking garages. Often the signs with pricing can be confusing and the time/price increments arbitrary and often expensive.

After driving up and down and around a few blocks looking for the best place to park for 30 minutes, most people throw up their hands in frustration and pull into the next lot they see.

What SpotHero’s app does is allow drivers to input the address of their ultimate destination. Then utilizing the GPS functionality of the iPhone, a map on their screen is then generated flagging the many parking garages and lots SpotHero represents with the cost of parking at each location.

This lets motorists find the option best suited for you and reserve the spot in advance.

We used the app on the way to a theater performance near Water Tower Place recently. After we input the address of the downtown venue, a multitude of available choices popped onto the screen showing us a range of parking fees within a short distance of where we were going.

In our case, we could have saved a few bucks parking four or five blocks farther from the venue. But, with two young children along for the ride, proximity outweighed the minimal cost savings. If we wanted a more convenient option just steps from the venue there was one available. However it was a lot more expensive than the garage we ultimately chose just two blocks away–a middle road choice we made between convenience and cost.

What was really impressive was locating and reserving our parking space in the car on the way to the event.

While my wife drove, I shopped and booked the space. It took just a short few minutes. After reserving the spot, the attached notes gave us specific directions on how to find and enter the parking structure. So instead of wasting time driving in circles to find parking, we literally rolled to the parking garage we selected.

SpotHero Has Changed The Parking Experience

While we were impressed with the robust technology and convenience SpotHero’s app exhibited, we had but one minor criticism. As an early SpotHero adopter via its website, we had already had a credit card number on file. But when we logged into our account on the mobile app, we were asked to re-input the same credit card info on file. A very minor inconvenience that is heavily outweighed by how incredibly easier finding parking in Chicago has now become with SpotHero’s app. It is safe to say SpotHero’s technology has the potential to radically change the way how drivers deal with the frustrating challenges of parking in the Windy City.

“What were most proud of is that it’s easy,” says Lawrence. “You know where you’re going to park and how much you’re going to pay. Using the GPS I can see where I can park. Instead of driving to a location and driving in circles you know exactly where you’re going. This changes the whole experience of coming downtown. You don’t leave with a bad taste in your mouth from a bad parking experience.”

So far, Lawrence says response to the brand new app has been good with over
1100 downloads with virtually no publicity.

“Feedback has been very positive,” says Lawrence as his face breaks into a smile. “I’m happy, we’ve done a great job.”

If you drive in Chicago, SpotHero’s mobile app is an absolute necessity for surviving the mean streets and parking challenges of the city.

Download the SpotHero app here.

So, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the company was awarded a new five year, $58 million contract to continue running things at both airports according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Standard beat out LAZ Parking, Imperial Parking and CPS Chicago Parking LLC to win the day.

The Sun-Times points out coincidentally, Standard Parking has made contributions to local politicians over $190,000 over the last few years and claims the firm carries a lot of what Chicagoans call “clout.”

While the bid request asked companies to be able to ultimately provide some sort of cell phone application to allow drivers to see the parking inventory available in each lot but also pay by phone, a spokesperson for Standard wouldn’t discuss what improvements the company had planned for O’Hare’s and Midway’s parking environment over the next five years of the contract.

Collectively, Chicago’s airport parking handles around 20,000 cars a day or over 3 million vehicles per year.

Read the Sun-Times story and well reported modern history of Chicago’s airport parking, “Clout-heavy firm gets airport parking pacts.”

Even if you had the cash, would you pay that much for a parking space in New York City?

Most sane people would say no.

But a NYC real estate developer is betting someone will fork over that much cash for the most expensive and most exclusive parking space in the world according to Yahoo News via the New York Post.

At 12 feet wide and 23 feet long, it’s not that huge of a parking space. Many local homeowners have garages bigger than that. And the million dollar price puts it far above the average value of a home in America.

But, this particular spot will be available in a new ultra-luxury condo development in Manhattan, the toniest part of New York City.

Parking expert Mark Lawrence a co-founder of parking commerce website SpotHero.com definitely wouldn’t pay it.

“Ha, wow, that’s crazy,” chuckles Lawrence. “I can think of a lot of cool things to do with $1 million, and this would not be one of them.”

But is there a comparably expensive parking spot in Chicago?

According to parking expert and SpotHero.com co-founder Mark Lawrence, no.

“The most expensive non reserved monthly spot (in Chicago) is $385 a month right near the Board of Trade,” said Lawrence. “For reserved, the price goes up from there. $400, $500, is not uncommon.”

Lawrence points to a 2010 Collier’s study of national parking rates that shows rates have decreased 9.7% since the 2009 report. The study claims Chicago’s parking prices rank 4th in the nation after New York, Honolulu and Boston.

SpotHero.com is a locally based website that helps drivers find the best parking deals in Chicago and helps parking garage and individual spot owners find cars to fill their spaces.

Would SpotHero be interested in helping the New York real estate developer find a buyer for their parking spot?

“I think it would be a great PR stunt for SpotHero and our reputation if we were able to boast a $1 million parking space sale.,” chuckled Lawrence. “That said, it really defeats the purpose of the company, which is to offer low-cost, high-convenient and easy parking.”

In the meantime, if you’ve got some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, someone has the world’s most exclusive parking spot for your car.

Here’s the full story, “The $1 million parking space.”

Hat tip to Steve Rhodes, Editor-in-Chief of The Beachwood Reporter.

Not by increasing the 25,000 parking spaces it controls at lots and garages adjacent to the airport, but through technological improvements to allow drivers to use their cell phone to locate and pay for parking.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the city is seeking bids from companies that have technology which will allow drivers to locate open parking spaces within garages or lots and even pay for their parking using smart phone applications.

Drivers with pre-paid parking would not have to wait at long lines to pay for parking before exiting. The city believes they can eventually decrease the number of manned pay booths at each parking lot or garage location.

The story says 3.4 million cars park at O’Hare annually, or an average of 20,000 vehicles a day.

But the bid description also has a mildly sinister request for potential bidders.

The winning bidder must be able to employ license plate recognition technology at the entrance and exit to parking facilities.

The city wants this technology to supposedly prevent fraud and help locate lost vehicles. But Chicago wants the license plate recognition software to be used to alert the officials when a parking ticket scofflaw’s vehicle is on the premises so city boot crews can slap a Denver boot on the vehicle. Of course, once immobilized the car won’t be going anywhere, as the boot won’t be released until all unpaid parking tickets and red light camera tickets are paid up or a payment plan is worked out.

Here’s the Sun-Times full story, “O’Hare upgrade would let you find and pay for parking with your phone.”

At least that’s what SpotHero founder Mark Lawrence thinks.

That’s why, on the eve of Chicago’s Winter Overnight Parking Ban, Lawrence is offering any unfortunate drivers who get towed on the first night of the ban free parking at one of the hundreds of  spots they list for any event, time and place over the next year,

Lawrence feels its a way for his company to lessen the pain of being towed.

“Because we’ve been towed ourselves and getting towed  sucks, it’s our way of giving back because we understand the pain and aggravation,” explains Lawrence. “It’s so we can make parking in Chicago a little better.”

In fact, getting your car towed is one of the myriad of city parking challenges that inspired him and his partner Jeremy Smith to start SpotHero, a website that helps local drivers locate and reserve parking spots in advance and often at discounted rates.

Drivers can book reserved parking at lots, garages and even privately held spaces all over the city for motorists traditional parking needs but also for all  sorts of events including downtown theater events,  Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawk games.

But is Lawrence worried that typically over 200 cars could be towed away by city tow trucks tonight?

“Nahh,” said Lawrence. “We’ll figure out a way to take care of everyone who contacts us.”

SpotHero will give any drivers towed tonight a credit for free parking in any of their listed spaces any date or time within the next 12 months.

Towed motorists can just email a copy of their tow receipt from the auto pound with their contact information to: mark@spothero.com.