Stick ’em up!

Addressing concerns about the quantity and proximity of parking to the T-Mobile Arena, executives at MGM Resorts International are busting out plans for a $54 million parking garage, to be built on the northwest corner of the Excalibur “campus,” cannibalizing acreage devoted to space-inefficient surface parking. The 3,000-vehicle space will encompass employee parking as well as that for guests. In addition, MGM is spending $36 million to add (in verbatim):

*         Redesigned parking facility layouts to improve accessibility

*         Parking guidance systems that will guide guests to available spaces

*         Mobile technology allowing visitors to check space availability prior to arrival

*         Upgraded lighting, LED signage, paint and striping

*         Elevator and escalator upgrades and enhancements

Best of all, you get to pay for this. Having hinted at parking fees for weeks, MGM is coming clean on the subject and it’s not going to be cheap. If you’re staying overnight at an MGM property — no exceptions have been specified yet and MGM itself is still sorting out the details — it’ll set you back $10. Locals had better be prepared to dig deep, too: There will be an unspecified (again) “grace period,” after which you’ll only get free parking if you’ve signed up for M life and are earning points. (Great way to deepen the M life player base, huh?) Oh, and did we mention the “modest fee” for valet parking?

The return on investment from this new regimen should be stratospheric. I don’t know whether to admire MGM executives for their ingenuity at fattening the bottom line or deplore the highway robbery it entails. Wall Street analysts are going to love this, visions of increased EBITDA dancing in their heads.

Many subtleties of the new parking regime remain to be announced, so stay tuned to this station for further details.

Update: The affected resorts will be Aria, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, The Mirage and, yes, even Circus Circus. That’s what The Man said.

Up-Update: From the lion’s mouth,  “If you’re stopping for dinner you will pay slightly less than $10.” Most MGM restaurants aren’t for the price-conscious but, still, ouch!