Ferrovial Airports heads Great Hall Partners, in alliance with Saunders Construction and JLC, which will manage the contract for 34 years.
Financial completion is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2017.
This project is Ferrovial’s debut in the US airport market and opens up new opportunities in the area of public-private partnerships.
Ferrovial Airports, which heads Great Hall Partners, has signed the contract for remodelling and commercial operation of the Jeppesen terminal at Denver International Airport. The 34-year concession represents an investment of 650 million dollars. The other members of Great Hall Partners are Saunders Construction and JLC, an investment fund created by Loop Capital and Magic Johnson Enterprises. Ferrovial Agroman will participate in the construction work.
Jorge Gil, CEO of Ferrovial Airports, said, “We are very happy to have successfully achieved commercial closure of the project and to be able to continue working on the development and implementation of a new Great Hall that will provide numerous benefits for Denver and its community.” Gil added that, “We are grateful for the trust placed in our teams and we are fully committed to realizing the vision for Denver International Airport and making it America’s favorite hub.”
In the next few months, Great Hall Partners will advance towards financial closure, which is expected to be achieved in the fourth quarter of this year.
Full upgrade of Denver International Airport terminal
Ferrovial Agroman in consortium with local company Saunders Construction will handle the construction work. The Great Hall project consists of upgrading the Jeppesen terminal at Denver International Airport, encompassing over 70,000 square meters of floor space.
The upgrades include creating new shopping and foodservice areas, relocating and expanding the TSA screening areas, improving building access and passenger flow, creating a new check-in area, and optimizing space and efficiency in the terminal.
Opened in 1995, Denver International Airport is the largest commercial airport in North America in terms of acreage and ranks sixth in terms of traffic. It is served by 26 airlines, flying 58 million passengers each year to and from over 180 destinations in the Americas, Asia and Europe.
New opportunities in the US market
The Great Hall, the first project undertaken by Ferrovial Airports in the US, offers new business opportunities in public-private partnerships (P3), a space in which the company has extensive experience through subsidiaries Cintra and Ferrovial Agroman. The number of P3 projects has expanded rapidly in the US, a trend that is expected to continue in the coming years since this approach offers great advantages to governments wishing to execute infrastructure projects.
Ferrovial Airports is one of the world’s leading privately-owned airport investors and operators. The company has invested in 33 airports since it entered this business in 1998. It is currently the main shareholder of Heathrow and owns 50% of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports in the UK. More than 90 million passengers used the group’s airports in 2016.
