Failure to repair parking structure leads to Eastern Michigan issuing default with developer

Parking signs provide information throughout the Eastern Michigan University campus.Martin Slagter | The Ann Arbor News

Story updated with comment from Provident EMU.

YPSILANTI, MI - Eastern Michigan University has issued a notice of default to a partnering developer that failed to follow through on an agreement to repair and reopen a campus parking structure.

EMU notified Provident Group-EMU Properties, an Arizona-based limited liability corporation, also known as Provident EMU, that its failure to uphold a deal on the upkeep of a four-story campus parking structure has put them in default, officials said.

The structure accounts for 8% of on-campus parking. The 2018 agreement gave Provident EMU the operation, management and maintenance of the university's parking system.

Read more: Ypsilanti wants more info on Eastern Michigan's $55M parking agreement

Georgia-based Provident Resources Group, the nonprofit parent corporation for Provident Group-EMU Properties, has no comment on the Notice of Default "filed in an untimely manner by EMU," said Provident Resources Group Chairman and CEO Steve Hicks.

"Regarding our closure of the garage in question," Hicks said, "we closed the garage on the recommendation of our consultants because it was deemed to be unsafe, and we were not willing to put the students, staff, or faculty at risk for their safety."

EMU officials said they are disappointed that efforts to work with the company to resolve the matter have not produced results, Spokesman Walter Kraft said.

"We very much hope that Provident will live up to its obligations, perform any necessary maintenance work, and reopen our parking garage soon," Kraft said in a statement.

Provident EMU closed the parking structure on Sept. 25 to conduct repairs, officials said. By not opening since then, the closure has "frustrated many students who, as a result, had to park in other lots across campus," Kraft said.

In 2018, EMU privatized parking on its campus in a 35-year agreement with Dallas-based Preston Hollow Capital. Under the agreement, which provided a $55-million up-front payment to EMU, PHC assigned rights to Provident Group-EMU Properties.

The agreement relinquished operational and managerial control of more than 1,100 parking garage spaces, 8,300 parking lot spaces and any other metered or permitted parking spaces.