Updated
Updated · WLS-TV · Sep 15
Chicago Aldermen Back $75 Million Parking Meter Deal With Stonepeak as Profit Share Added
Updated
Updated · WLS-TV · Sep 15

Chicago Aldermen Back $75 Million Parking Meter Deal With Stonepeak as Profit Share Added

3 articles · Updated · WLS-TV · Sep 15

Summary

  • $75 million upfront and annual profit-sharing are now part of a revised agreement Chicago aldermen say they reached with Stonepeak for the city's parking meters, reviving a sale that still needs City Council approval.
  • A vote on the original proposal was delayed after aldermen attacked the process, and the new terms were presented as a response to that pushback.
  • Stonepeak also agreed to sell its stake in a company that operates deportation flights for the Department of Homeland Security, addressing a major objection from progressive aldermen.
  • Chicago's meter system remains politically sensitive because Mayor Richard M. Daley leased it for more than $1 billion in 2008, a deal widely seen as having since generated roughly double that return.

Insights

Will Chicago's new parking meter deal truly fix the disastrous 2008 contract, or just lock taxpayers into another 57 years of private control?
How will the forced sale of a controversial airline reshape the billion-dollar future of Chicago's heavily debated parking infrastructure?
Could the addition of electric vehicle charging stations finally turn Chicago's worst privatization mistake into a profitable urban asset?