Chicago city council members say they've renegotiated parking meter deal with Stonepeak Partners

Three Chicago City Council members announced they have negotiated a revised parking meter deal with New York-based Stonepeak Partners to the benefit of the city.

In 2008, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley convinced the city council to sell the city of Chicago's parking meters for 75 years for $1.15 billion in order to plug a budget hole. The deal has widely been panned since it was signed, with the company that bought the meters already reporting nearly $2 billion in revenue from the deal by 2026. There are still 57 years left on the contract.

In the years since, city leadership has tried and failed to undo the deal. In January, Mayor Brandon Johnson said his administration would not try to buy back the city's parking meters, determined the cost was simply too high.

While the company that bought the parking meters is now looking to sell its lease, Johnson said it likely would have cost the city at least twice as much as the original sale price for the meters.

In May, investment firm Stonepeak Partners agreed to buy the system from Chicago Parking Meters LLC, who made the infamous 2008 purchase, but would not disclose the terms of the sale. That reticence led to calls from the city council for transparency, with the handful of alders who opposed the 2008 deal demanding details before anything moved forward.

"We're not going to vote for this until you come clean, until you open up the books and you show us what you did and you can't hide behind a non-disclosure agreement," said 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack, who also opposed the 2008 deal, at the time.

Tuesday, Waguespack, 11th Ward Ald. Nicole Lee and 3rd Ward Ald. and Finance Committee Chair Pat Dowell announced they had negotiated a revised parking meter deal with Stonepeak Partners that they said includes "numerous new benefits for the City of Chicago."

According to the alders, Stonepeak has agreed to:

• Pay $75 million immediately upon transfer, which will be use towards the city's pension obligations.
• Sell Omni Air International, a company providing long haul deportation flights for the U.S. Department of Homeland security, which will be confirmed through certified documents after federal approval. The group said the council was concerned about Stonepeak's ownership of Omni given its role in immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations that have impacted city residents.
• Share profits with the city equal to 5% of the meters' net operating income annually. The group said they expect the city to get $367.2 million over the course of the remaining 57 years of the agreement, which will then be directed to Chicago's pension liability.
• Establish non-metered blocks as potential electric vehicle charging stations, then operate them while sharing revenue between the city and the company.
• Ensure at least 50% of its employees of employees of LAZ working on the parking meter system are Chicago residents.
• Give the city's Chief Financial Officer 30 days to approve any future transfer and submit a recommendation to Chicago City Council, which will then have 90 days to consider to approve or disapprove the proposed transfer.

The group of council members also said Stonepeak will be prohibited from sharing any information it has about users in its system with immigration enforcement authorities, and is also prohibited from collecting parking fees from motorists parked at metered spaces while they're temporarily closed or outside the hours of operation of those spaces.

Chicago alderpersons will be briefed on this new deal starting Tuesday, the group said. The deal must be finalized by Sept.30 in order to be valid, otherwise Stonepeak can take the city into arbitration which could then void the deal. 

Mayor Johnson's office responded to the councilmembers' announcement in a statement, writing in part, "We've worked to facilitate conversations between, Morgan Stanley, Stonepeak, and the City Council, and we've made sure the Council has access to the technical resources within DoL, DoF, and outside advisors as it evaluates the proposal. We're going to continue working with the City Council to find a better outcome for Chicagoans."

Full Statement from Mayor's Office

Some members of the City Council did not see a window of opportunity here, but my administration has always believed there was an opportunity to negotiate a better deal for Chicagoans.

Let's not forget how we got here. In 2008, the city entered into a 75-year lease of its parking meters for roughly $1.15 billion. Chicagoans have been living with the consequences of that decision ever since.

We've worked to facilitate conversations between, Morgan Stanley, Stonepeak, and the City Council, and we've made sure the Council has access to the technical resources within DoL, DoF, and outside advisors as it evaluates the proposal.

We're going to continue working with the City Council to find a better outcome for Chicagoans.