Chicago Company Taking Charge of MGM’s Las Vegas Parking

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Lion near the MGM casino and hotel in Las Vegas. Photo by Simeon87.

Chicago-based SP Plus Corporation has signed an important contract with MGM Resorts International. SP Plus will take responsibility for all the paid parking at all non-union properties.

SP+, an alternative form of the company name, now operates almost 4,000 parking lots in North America. When SP+ takes charge of the Las Vegas lots on the Strip, about 400 employees who are employed by those facilities will become employees of SP+. For now it is not known what will become of the unionized parking lot attendants, but at least according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the company would like to find a way to transition those workers to additional employees of SP+.

The plan for SP+ to take over the parking on the Strip is highly controversial. It has been a tradition that all parking on the Strip has been free for MGM’s nine facilities which are located there. The decision by MGM to contract with SP+ and begin charging for parking has been met with much criticism.

It is also not known what else is included in the deal. According to the Associated Press, MGM is planning to spend $90 million to improve its parking, including the building of a new 3,000-car garage.