NY Times Reveals Abu Dhabi Owns 28% Of Chicago's Parking Meters

The article says the Persian Gulf emirate, and part of the United Arab Emirates, own around 25% of CPM directly through Tannadice Investments, LLC, and another 3% via a group investment in Morgan Stanley's 50.1% interest in CPM.

The piece alleges that Abu Dhabi's stake in the deal was not disclosed initially last December when the deal was voted on in the city council, but eventually was revealed when the finacial deal closed in February 2009.

Outside of being an interesting morsel of information from a well researched and reported news article, I'm not sure if there's actually anything controversial here.

International investment in Chicago is nothing new.

The Chicago Skyway is now controlled by a joint venture between Australian Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Spanish Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte S.A.

The Sears Tower was recently purchased by British insurance company Willis Group Holdings, Ltd who sources claim are contemplating a name change for Chicago's tallest building.

Whether or not the investors are from Abu Dhabi or from Mars, it changes nothing about the parking meter lease deal. No matter who is an investor in Chicago's parking meter lease deal, it is still bad for motorists and the City of Chicago.

Read the entire piece, "Abu Dhabi Shares Profits From Parking Meters."