A pay box in Chicago, operated by Chicago Parking Meters LLC
A Chicagoan pays at a pay box

Chicago Parking Meters LLC also known as ParkChicago[1] is a company[2] with several investors[3] that owns the parking meters in the City of Chicago.

History

After the 2008 financial crisis, the city of Chicago needed money and a deal was made to sell all 36,000[4] of the parking meter spots in the city for 75 years for 1.15 billion dollars.[5][6] When the deal went through, prices increased and many meters were vandalized in the initial rollout.[7] As of 2023, the investors in CPM LLC have recouped their investment and $500m more, and still have 60 years left on the deal.[8]

Criticism

The contract has been widely criticized as a negative example of privatization.[9] Part of the deal is that if any of the metered parking spots are not available as such, for any reason – i.e., parades, street maintenance, electrification for electric vehicles, bike lanes,[10] or outdoor seating – then the city has to compensate the LLC for their projected losses.[11] Because compensation costs are so expensive, it had been criticized for limiting development of city infrastructure.[12]

Investors

The investors in the LLC according to the City of Chicago are listed below.[3] Matt Taibbi in Griftopia claims that Deeside investments owns 49.9 percent (and possibly a controlling share[13]) and Redoma S.a.r.l. owns 50.1 percent.[14]

Investor Percentage Interest in Disclosing Party Country Direct or indirect ownership
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners LP 11.415 USA direct
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners A Sub LP 38.032 USA direct
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners A Chicago Meters Blocker, LLC 31.403 USA indirect
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners A LP 31.403 USA indirect
Morgan Stanley Offshore Infrastructure Partners A LP 24.061 USA direct
Deeside Investments, Inc. 49.9 USA direct
Redoma S.a.r.l.[15] 24.9999 Luxembourg indirect
Tannadice Investments, LLC 24.9001 USA indirect
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority 24.9001 UAE indirect
Allianz Lebensversicherungs – Aktiengesellschaft 21.249915 Germany indirect
Allianz Deutschland AG 24.9999 Germany indirect
Allianz SE[16] 24.9999 Germany indirect

References

  1. Scarcella, Mike (October 30, 2023). "US Supreme Court won't wade into Chicago parking meter fight". Reuters. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  2. "Chicago Parking Meters Are Making UAE the Big Bucks". May 28, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "CITY OF CHICAGO ECONOMIC DISCLOSURE STATEMENT AND AFFIDAVIT|Chicago Parking Meters, LLC" (PDF). chicago.gov. May 16, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  4. "Why Does Abu Dhabi Own All of Chicago's Parking Meters?". The Atlantic. October 19, 2010.
  5. Mihalopoulos, Dan (December 6, 2009). "Abu Dhabi Shares Profits from Parking Meters". The New York Times.
  6. Scarcella, Mike (April 7, 2023). "Chicago's $1.1 billion metered parking deal upheld by appeals court". Reuters.
  7. "Parking meter deal keeps getting worse for city as meter revenues rise". Chicago Sun-Times. May 15, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  8. "Parking meter deal keeps on giving — for private investors, not Chicago taxpayers". June 11, 2023.
  9. "The worst privatization deal in U.S. History just got even worse". June 9, 2022.
  10. "WTTW News Explains: What Happened With Chicago's Parking Meter Deal?". WTTW News. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  11. "Chicago Doesn't Own Its Own Streets | Climate Town" via www.youtube.com.
  12. "Companies raked in nearly $266M from parking meters, other city assets last year". Chicago Sun-Times. May 7, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  13. Fisher, Max (October 19, 2010). "Why Does Abu Dhabi Own All of Chicago's Parking Meters?". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  14. "The Abu Dhabi Hustle". NBC Chicago. April 6, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  15. "Redoma Sàrl, Luxembourg". www.northdata.com. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  16. Allianz SE Munchennorthdata.com Archived March 24, 2023, at the Wayback Machine

See also


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