Chicago Parking Meters

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.

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.[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 hadn't leased out the meters.[10][11]

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

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced an order that parking tickets would “only” be issued for safety reasons and that parking at an expired meter did not represent a public safety threat. Lightfoot also reminded 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 managed by CPM LLC, then returned 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 years of 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 problematic 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 must compensate CPM LLC for their projected losses.[20] The high cost of compensation was criticized as limiting development of city infrastructure.[21]

Investors

The investors in the LLC according to the City of Chicago are listed below.[3] Matt Taibbi claims in his 2010 book Griftopia that Deeside Investments owns 49.9% (and possibly a controlling share[22]) and Redoma S.a.r.l. owns 50.1%.[23]

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.[24] 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[25] 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. ^ Indelicato, Mario (November 21, 2008). "CITY OF CHICAGO ECONOMIC DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT AND AFFADAVIT - CHICAGO PARKING METERS" (PDF). City of Chicago. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  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. Retrieved August 6, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  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. ^ a b c Schmidt, Rose (May 8, 2025). "Chicago parking meters have generated $2B for private company, audits show". NBC Chicago. Retrieved August 6, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  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. Retrieved August 6, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  15. ^ Spielman, Fran (May 15, 2025). "Parking meter deal that Chicagoans love to hate gets $15.5 million worse". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 6, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  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. Retrieved August 6, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  17. ^ Spielman, Fran (June 11, 2023). "Parking meter deal keeps on giving — for private investors, not Chicago taxpayers". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 6, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  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

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