Chicago Parking Meters

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A pay box in Chicago, operated by Chicago Parking Meters LLC Multi-space parking meter (37944634252).jpg
A pay box in Chicago, operated by Chicago Parking Meters LLC
A Chicagoan pays at a pay box 20110219 70 Parking her car, Superior St. near Wells St. (5504193039).jpg
A Chicagoan pays at a pay box

Chicago Parking Meters, LLC, doing business as ParkChicago, [1] is an American company [2] with several investors [3] that owns the parking meters in the city of Chicago, Illinois. The company has gained notoriety for its roots in the 2008 sale of the City of Chicago's parking meters to private investors, considered a financial disaster for the city.

Contents

History

During the 2008 financial crisis, the City of Chicago faced a major budget deficit, which prompted then-Mayor Richard M. Daley to propose the sale of city-owned parking meters. Brokers affiliated with Morgan Stanley then formed an LLC called "Chicago Parking Meters LLC" to facilitate a potential deal with the city over the sale of the meters. [4] By December 3, 2008, a deal was made to sell all 36,000 [5] [6] of the parking meter spots in the city for 75 years for $1.15 billion. [7] [8] The deal was approved and finalized on December 4, 2008. When the deal went through, prices increased and many meters were vandalized in the initial rollout. [9]

A 2009 report conducted by then-Inspector General David Hoffman, found that the city was paid "conservatively, $974 million less" than what the city would have received from 75 years of parking meter revenue, if it didn't lease out the meters. [10] [11]

In 2013, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel negotiated changes to the deal, by reducing the city’s liability to reimburse investors for every parking space taken out of service, by increasing the hours and days motorists pay for parking. In the 2013 deal was also an agreement to move 176 parking pay boxes from city control to CPM LLC control. [12] [10]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced an order that parking tickets would “only” be issued for safety reasons and parking at an expired meter did not represent a public safety threat. Lightfoot did remind motorists that they should still pay to park at meters. The order was in effect for two and a half months. [13] During 2020, the city also reclaimed 4,007 parking spaces — that were managed by Chicago Parking Meters LLC — then return 2,646 of those parking spaces back, two months later, keeping a total of 1,361 spaces for the city. [14] The order and reclaiming of parking spots, created a years long litigation leading to a settlement of $15.5 million for the city to compensate CPM LLC for meter violations, the suspension of parking tickets, and a dispute over the distribution of meter revenue. [15] [16]

In 2023, the investors in CPM LLC have recouped their investment plus $500 million, and still have 60 years left on the deal. [17] As of 2025, an audit revealed the meters, in total, generated $1.97 billion through 2024 for CPM LLC. [10]

Criticism

The contract has been widely criticized as a negative example of privatization. [18] 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, [19] or outdoor seating—then the city has to compensate the LLC for their projected losses. [20] Because compensation costs are so expensive, it had been criticized for limiting development of city infrastructure. [21]

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% (and possibly a controlling share [22] ) and Redoma S.a.r.l. owns 50.1%. [23]

InvestorPercentage interest in disclosing partyCountryDirect or indirect ownership
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners LP11.415USAdirect
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners A Sub LP38.032USAdirect
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners A Chicago Meters Blocker, LLC31.403USAindirect
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners A LP31.403USAindirect
Morgan Stanley Offshore Infrastructure Partners A LP24.061USAdirect
Deeside Investments, Inc.49.9USAdirect
Redoma S.a.r.l. [24] 24.9999Luxembourgindirect
Tannadice Investments, LLC24.9001USAindirect
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority 24.9001UAEindirect
Allianz Lebensversicherungs – Aktiengesellschaft21.249915Germanyindirect
Allianz Deutschland AG24.9999Germanyindirect
Allianz SE [25] 24.9999Germanyindirect

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. Indelicato, Mario (November 21, 2008). "CITY OF CHICAGO ECONOMIC DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT AND AFFADAVIT - CHICAGO PARKING METERS" (PDF). City of Chicago. Retrieved April 3, 2024.[ dead link ]
  5. "Chicago Parking Meters, LLC Selected as Winning Bidder for the Chicago Metered Parking System". Morgan Stanley. December 3, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  6. "Why Does Abu Dhabi Own All of Chicago's Parking Meters?". The Atlantic . October 19, 2010.
  7. Mihalopoulos, Dan (December 6, 2009). "Abu Dhabi Shares Profits From Parking Meters (Published 2009)". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  8. Scarcella, Mike (April 7, 2023). "Chicago's $1.1 billion metered parking deal upheld by appeals court". Reuters.
  9. "Parking meter deal keeps getting worse for city as meter revenues rise". Chicago Sun-Times. May 15, 2018. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Schmidt, Rose (May 8, 2025). "Chicago parking meters have generated $2B for private company, audits show". NBC Chicago . Archived from the original on August 6, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  11. "AN ANALYSIS OF THE LEASE OF THE CITY'S PARKING METERS" (PDF). igchicago.org. June 2, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 20, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  12. Dumke, Mick (February 19, 2015). "Mayor Emanuel says he 'reformed' the parking meter deal, but he actually sold off more of the city streets". Chicago Reader . Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  13. "Final Tally: Chicago Taxpayers to Pay $25.2M to Parking Meter Firm to Resolve Claim City Violated Deal During COVID-19 Pandemic". WTTW News. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  14. Spielman, Fran (August 12, 2024). "Pandemic-era 'scheme' to reclaim parking meters may cost city $120.7 million". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on August 12, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  15. Spielman, Fran (May 15, 2025). "Parking meter deal that Chicagoans love to hate gets $15.5 million worse". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on May 15, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  16. Board, CST Editorial (August 14, 2024). "City's taxpayers may end up paying the price for risky plan to reclaim parking meters". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  17. Spielman, Fran (June 11, 2023). "Parking meter deal keeps on giving — for private investors, not Chicago taxpayers". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on June 11, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  18. "The worst privatization deal in U.S. History just got even worse". June 9, 2022.
  19. "WTTW News Explains: What Happened With Chicago's Parking Meter Deal?". WTTW News. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  20. "Chicago Doesn't Own Its Own Streets | Climate Town" via www.youtube.com.
  21. "Companies raked in nearly $266M from parking meters, other city assets last year". Chicago Sun-Times. May 7, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  22. Fisher, Max (October 19, 2010). "Why Does Abu Dhabi Own All of Chicago's Parking Meters?". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  23. "The Abu Dhabi Hustle". NBC Chicago. April 6, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  24. "Redoma Sàrl, Luxembourg". www.northdata.com. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  25. Allianz SE Munchen northdata.com Archived March 24, 2023, at the Wayback Machine

See also