|
A coalition of Chicago aldermen announced this week a tentative
deal had been reached to approve the $2.53 billion sale of the
city’s privately-owned parking infrastructure between Chicago
Parking Meters LLC and New York-based investment firm Stonepeak.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, whose office made its own bid on the
meters, said he was grateful to have the council, his office and
the other parties work together to create an agreement.
“I've always believed that there was a pathway forward to get a
better deal,” Johnson said Tuesday. “ I am certainly grateful
and feeling hopeful that the work that was done to put together
a package, a better deal for taxpayers, that the City Council
will find a path to deliver for the people of Chicago.”
A full vote is still required to approve the sale, as the
parking infrastructure will revert back to city ownership 75
years after it was sold for $1.15 billion to assist the city’s
finances in 2008.
The negotiated terms would include a one-time $75 million fee
paid to the city by Stonepeak, and give the city a 5% share of
annual profits – an estimated total $451 million over the
remaining contract’s life directed to city pension funds.
A vote on the sale was delayed in July after disagreements over
the company’s practices, investments and uncertainty over if the
city could get more favorable terms, risking litigation against
the city.
The taxpayer cost of true-up payments, required to be paid by
the city anytime a parking space is taken out of service due to
things like road closures or construction, between 2009-2024 was
$161 million, according to a report by the council’s Office of
Financial Analysis.
More than a dozen progressive aldermen took issue with one of
the company’s investments, Omni Air, which had contracts with
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for deportation
flights.
Under the agreement, Stonepeak would agree to sell the asset.
James Wyper, a senior managing director at the firm, said it
found no evidence of wrongdoing by OmniAir, but noted it was
already attempting to sell OmniAir.
He also said he personally found some DHS actions “abhorrent.”
“We have discovered no evidence of wrongdoing or treatment
outside the guidelines, which certainly does not include that
sort of thing,” Wyper said. “The activities of ICE under the
current administration could not be more abhorrent. I have
direct family who is a Latin American, asylum seeking immigrant
in this country whose parents cannot come visit. I could not be
more empathetic.”
The council’s finance committee could vote to advance the
proposal as early as Monday, when it would then be sent to the
council for a final vote Sept. 23.
|
|
