Atlanta airport bidding process raises questions
Mayor denies bids for retail, restaurant spots in aviation hub weren’t rigged to favor Jay-Z, campaign co-chair
There’s a lot of money to be made selling food, magazines and those gaudy neck pillows at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Possibly millions of dollars. So you’d expect there’d be a lot of interest to win a contract at the world’s busiest airport.
Earlier this year, the city invited firms eager to open and manage restaurants and retail stores in several of the aviation hub’s terminals, including the new multi-billion-dollar international concourse scheduled to open next spring, to submit pitches. More than 40 companies jockeyed for a chance to control more than 150 spaces, proposing airport outposts of Manuel’s Tavern and Chow Baby, among other local restaurants, and concepts by Richard Blais, Kevin Rathbun and other celebrity chefs.
But city officials in early September unexpectedly threw out all the submitted bids and restarted the complicated bidding process anew. City officials explained that this unusual step was taken because some of the interested companies’ applications were incomplete.
CL at that time requested a list of the specific firms that had failed to comply with bidding requirements. Citing an exemption in the Open Records Act, the city refused to disclose them. We disagreed with city attorneys’ interpretation of the law and filed a complaint with Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, but his office has not yet resolved the dispute. However, the names of firms that made errors have been open secrets in political circles and are easily identifiable by cross-referencing a general list the city provided. But being that we’re nice guys and gals, we wanted verification before we ran with this story.
The move raised questions among political observers and possible contractors who accused the city of playing favorites — particularly on the behalf of Mayor Kasim Reed’s political buddies and celebrities. Two of the firms interested in operating at the airport — and which, Fox5’s Dale Russell reports, were among the firms that failed to file the proper paperwork — are associated with rapper Jay-Z and Dan Halpern, president and CEO of Jackmont Hospitality and co-chair of Reed’s 2009 mayoral campaign. The well-connected former business partner of the late Maynard Jackson, Halpern is also Reed’s appointee to the Atlanta Housing Authority.
Reed denies any favoritism — he says he wouldn’t put his integrity on the line — and that restarting the bidding process ensured more competition. Even still, it’s a good bet that firms that spent tens of thousands of dollars on proposals and then complied with all the requirements might consider protesting — or filing lawsuits — once the city announces winning bidders. Here’s Russell’s report, which aired Tuesday night, and does a good job of spotlighting the brouhaha: