Submitted By
Tammie Grossman, Director of Development Customer Services
Agenda Item Title
Title
Presentation on the Valet Program
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Overview
Overview
On February 6, 2017 the Village Board approved an extension to the Valet Parking Services Agreement with SP Plus Corporation to operate a Universal Valet Parking Program in the Downtown Oak Park Area for one year. The Board requested the follow-up report as part of the 2018 budget process.
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Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
Recommendation
In February 2018, the contract for the valet program will be up for renewal.
Body
Report
At the August 3, 2015 Village Board meeting a motion was passed directing staff to prepare a pilot universal valet parking program for the Downtown Business Districts. A Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued and staff has prepared a recommendation for construction related Valet parking in Downtown Oak Park which additional research is done for a universal valet program to be discussed later in 2016.
On Monday February 8, 2016 as part of a Study Session, the Village Board discussed the valet options as presented by staff.
On July 18, 2016, the Village Board approved continuation of the valet parking services agreement with SP Plus Corporation to operate a universal valet parking program in the downtown Oak Park area with a follow- up report in six months. With the closing of the parking lots near Harlem Avenue and Lake Street staff requested feedback from the downtown Oak Park businesses and received a positive response for providing a valet option in the vicinity of Marion and Lake Streets.
The service operates from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday thru Saturday to encompass the wide range of services, retail and entertainment provided in this area.
In addition, several marketing initiatives have been conducted:
Village sponsored a newspaper coupon campaign program with the Wednesday Journal and surrounding suburbs.
• Thursday night out promotions: SP Plus management staff went around to patrons of Thursday night out and promoted the valet service and provided literature. This was done for three consecutive weeks
• Advertised at Lake Theater on all screens for three months
• SP Plus staff went to local businesses and promoted the service for their customers. Staff left behind counter cards and also static window clings to post in the storefront windows
• Coordinated with DTOP to promote valet services to the local merchants and holiday shopper rewards program.
For FY16, the net expense to the Parking Fund was within the budgeted amount of $125,000. During the first ten months of operations, total gross parking revenue exceeded $24,000 and more than 4,500 cars were valet parked, with an average of more than 20 cars per days in the highest volume months.
On February 6, 2017 the Village Board approved an extension to the Valet Parking Services Agreement with SP Plus Corporation to operate a Universal Valet Parking Program in the Downtown Oak Park area for one year. Valet customers pay $5 for up to three hours and $12 for up to 10 hours of parking. Additionally, the cost of the valet program is funding by the Parking Fund of the Village, Westgate Medical Offices and the Oak Park Station developer.
The current agreement with SP Plus for universal valet is $206,182 for a twelve month period. In order for the Valet Program to pay for itself without subsidy from the Parking Fund or the private sector, there would need to be 41,236 parking transactions over a one year period or 793 parking transactions/week - at the minimum charge of $5 for three hours of parking. In 2017 the program was averaging 344 customers a month.
Since the Emerson Garage is now open to the public and the Lincoln Development has caused South Blvd to be closed to east bound traffic and will necessitate periodic closures of the west bound lane, we decided to work with SP Plus to relocate the Valet stations. We have also increased the number of stations with no cost adjustment to the contract. There are now six (6) on-demand stands at the following locations: in front of Bar Louie and across the street near Target, in front of Vantage and across the street near Calvary church and on either side of Marion Street near South Blvd. Individuals can drop off their car at one location and call ahead to pick up their car at another location.
Additionally, we partnered with the Downtown Business Districts to come up with a plan to promote the Village’s Parking Assets including the Valet program. We are using the attached postcard for businesses to hand out to customers. We also developed keychains to promote pay by plate.
Alternatives
The Board could choose to discontinue the valet program. However, staff recommends the continuation of the program. As the downtown area becomes more populated, we believe more people will utilize the Valet. Presently, only 29% of the participants are from Oak Park. For every person that valets their car, it results in less congestion in the downtown area and less competition for surface lots.