A committee formed by the City of Chicago and Gary Airport has recommended two bidders out of ten proposals for further negotiations for a public private partnership project at Gary/Chicago International Airport.

The committee has selected the following two preferred bidders:

• GCIA Group: Lee Cos., of Gary; Axis Consulting, of Chicago; The Williams Capital Group, of New York; Airport Property Ventures, of Manhattan Beach, Calif.; and NAI Hiffman, of Chicago.
• AFCO team: AvPorts Management, of Dulles, Va.; Guggenheim Partners, of New York; Loop Capital, of Chicago; and law firm DLA Piper.

The action in Gary comes days after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pulled the plug on final negotiations for the privatization of Midway airport.

The committee hopes to have the Airport Authority seal a deal with a winning bid group by the end of October.

Both proposals include managing the airport, development at the airfield and real estate development in areas surrounding the airport.

The Gary/Chicago International Airport Authority approved on 22 July 2013 a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Development and Management of the Gary/Chicago International Airport and Related Assets to invest in the airport and the surrounding area through a potential public-private partnership. The committee wants to see a plan from bidders for attracting $100 million more in investment to the airport during the next 20 to 40 years.