How Many Bidders in the Mix?

Back in March of this year we wrote a Blog entry that discussed the initial pool of bidders interested in competing for the right to win a 50 year lease for the City’s parking system. Initially, 11 groups responded to the Parking Authority’s RFQ. A few weeks later 7 of those groups were deemed to have "the financial and operational wherewithal to compete for a long-term lease".

As of last Wednesday an unspecified number of those 7 groups submitted bids. What we know is that two of the bidders on the high side were within 10 percent of each other and that’s why the City and the Authority moved to the "final and best offer" phase where there is supposed to be a clear winner emerge today.

If and when we find out how many firms actually submitted bids (whether it was just the two that came close to each other or more) it seems as though the pattern here has almost followed the same as it did in Chicago: there the eventual winner came originally from a group of 10 that responded to an RFQ, a group of 6 that were invited to bid, and one other firm that moved to the "final and best offer" phase.