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 an American company[2] with several investors[3] that owns the parking meters in the city of Chicago, Illinois.

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. ^ a b "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

External links

See also


Categories