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City Set to Cancel Rent for Airport Stores, Restaurants, Rental Car Companies Amid Pandemic

With O’Hare and Midway airports deserted amid the coronavirus pandemic, stores, restaurants and rental car companies are set to get a two-month break on most of the rent they owe to the city under a proposal that cleared a key city panel Friday.

The City Council’s Aviation Committee unanimously advanced the measure, which Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee said was needed to help businesses that were not eligible for federal relief.

The measure, which is scheduled to be approved Wednesday, also includes relief for advertising companies Clear Channel and JC Decaux, as well as Boingo Wireless, which provides internet service at O’Hare and Midway.

Businesses that accept the help would have to agree not to fire any of their employees, Rhee said, adding that she would personally hold the companies responsible for complying with that requirement.

In addition to the two-month rent waiver for stores and restaurants inside the terminals, businesses would not have to pay the city rent based on a percentage of their sales or a minimum amount based on their receipts from the previous year, whichever is greater. 

Those payments would be deferred — with no interest — until sales recover to 75% of last year, Rhee said. That deferral could last up to three years, Rhee said.