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Staff photo by Angie Baan

Miller family marks 75
years making parking
a business that works.

Bill Carroll

Special to the Jewish News

T

he Miller family has been
"parking" Detroiters for 75
years and is still going strong
with 25 parking facilities in Detroit,
some suburbs and Chicago.
"Parking is always a necessity, but

people just take it for granted and don't
think about it that way; they drive
someplace to attend an event or shop,
not for the sake of parking," reasons
Miller Parking Co. President Jim Miller,
55, of Huntington Woods, the third of
the four-generation parking family.
From his office in Detroit's
Renaissance Center, he and his father,
Bruce, 81, company chairman, remi-
nisced about how Bruce's father, Nathan,
started the business in 1933 and the
many challenges of the parking business
today.
"The cparkers' like us have to confront

many issues daily, such as the cost of
developing parking lots in a busy com-
mercial area, which has escalated to
about $16,000 per space, and the need
to buy millions of dollars worth of
insurance for the average lot," said Jim
Miller. "Then there's the cost breaks that
companies planning to move into down-
town would receive from the city if they
use city property for parking."
Miller Parking Co. has 1,300 parking
spaces in its main downtown structure
along the Detroit River just west of the
Renaissance Center. The facility benefits
somewhat from use by GM employees at

Ren Cen, events at Hart Plaza and Cobo
Center, plus the rental of the building's
roof for Freedom Festival fireworks
viewing every June.
"But the downside is that the struc-
ture is right next to Ford Auditorium,
which provides no parking income
because it has been an empty 'white
elephant' for years:' interjects Jim's wife,
Arleen, who is vice president of Miller
Parking.
Their daughter, Alison Goldstein
of Ann Arbor, returned from Chicago

Their Ticket on page A32

July 10 • 2008

A31