Charlotte City Council on Monday voted to defer action on a proposed lease of city-owned property at 501 West Trade Street to Pivot Parking LLC after an extended debate over worker access to affordable parking and legal limits on leasing.

Mayor Faye Lyles and staff presented the item as a routine ITB (invitation to bid) award; city staff said the recommended bidder had offered what staff considers fair market value for the lease. "The federal requirement is that we seek fair market value in our leases," a city official told council, noting the award process selects the highest responsive bidder.

Council member Luana Mayfield said Uptown parking has become unaffordable for workers who earn roughly $12–$15 an hour and urged the council to explore whether the city — which owns the land — could require or otherwise encourage lower worker parking rates. "If our workers are underpaid...and a good bit of their pay is going toward parking, that's a hindrance," Mayfield said.

City staff and legal counsel replied that while the city sets lease value for the site, it does not control the lessee's retail parking rates and that federal grant-based restrictions and the ITB process limit the city's ability to require submarket pricing for private parking operators. Staff said the lease revenue (estimated by staff at about $500,000 per year) supports transit system reinvestment.

Council members proposed several alternatives: using city-controlled land for different pricing models, pursuing targeted mitigation programs (subsidies or employer partnerships), and refining future procurement documents so council priorities around affordability are reflected before an ITB is issued.

After discussion, Mayfield moved to defer the item to the council’s next business meeting for additional analysis and outreach; the motion passed on a recorded hand vote (6 in favor, 5 opposed). The deferral requires staff to return with additional information about procurement constraints, the transaction history for the site and options to support workers’ access to parking.

What happens next: Staff will follow up with the council on federal restrictions that applied to this ITB, how lease proceeds are used, and whether alternative procurement documents or other city-owned properties could be structured to protect worker access. The item will return to the business meeting calendar for further deliberation.