Thirteen companies plan to bid on the city of Sacramento's parking operations, a key piece of Mayor Kevin Johnson's push for a downtown sports arena.
The deadline was Monday for responding to the city's request for qualifications – the first step in the bidding.
"I'm very pleased with 13 responses," said Assistant City Manager John Dangberg.
While the responses are nonbinding, they signify that the companies will offer at least $185 million to lease the parking assets – the minimum price set by the city.
The names of qualified bidders won't be released until Thursday. But two companies confirmed they're interested.
Revitalizing Sacramento LLC is a partnership between San Francisco's Priority Parking, which owns 50 lots and garages in Sacramento, and LDK Capital LLC. LDK converted McClellan Air Force Base into a thriving business park.
"It's local people with local knowledge and expertise, trying to solve a local problem," said Aaron Zeff, chief executive of Priority.
The second bidder is a partnership between Central Parking System, which owns 22 lots in Sacramento, and Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley.
The city hopes the deal will pay for one-third to one-half of the new arena. While bidding on the parking won't begin until spring or summer, the city plans to incorporate the parking plan into an arena-financing package to be submitted to the NBA by March.
Without a financing plan in place by then, the city will likely lose the Sacramento Kings.
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