Ohio State announced Friday that officials will recommend to its Board of Trustees approval of a $483 million agreement to lease all parking operations to an outside vendor.
The offer was made by QIC Global Infrastructure, an Australia-based investment company. The agreement will include a 50-year lease on parking rights and a 5.5 percent cap on rate increases for the first 10 years.
The recommendation will be presented to the Board at its June 22 meeting. According to a university press release, the agreement is expected to become effective by early October if approved.
The 5.5 percent cap would translate to a $40 increase in the current rate for an A permit, a $20 increase for a B permit, and a $14 increase for a C permit, according to an email from university provost Joseph Alutto.
University officials have said that leasing parking operations will allow OSU to focus on its “academic core.”
“Moving forward with this agreement would be one component of an overarching strategy to strengthen our faculty, students and programs by generating new funding,” Alutto said in a press release. “Other strategies include increased research funding, private giving through our $2.5 billion fundraising campaign, affinity agreements, and operating efficiencies, among other measures.”
According to the release, the bid would provide “$3.1 billion in investment earnings for academic initiatives such as hiring more faculty, offering more student scholarships, and supporting the arts and humanities” over the next 50 years. It also would fund the Campus Area Bus Service (CABS).
QIC announced that William Lhota, former president and chief executive officer of Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), will serve as chair of the project, if approved by the Board.
QIC’s operating partner LAZ Parking will manage more than 35,000 parking spaces on campus, according to the release.
