Denver International Airport has paid $128 million to Great Hall Partners as part of its divorce from the consortium, which had been hired to redesign and renovate the airport’s main terminal.
The city-owned airport owed that money as part of its deal to terminate the contract with the company. But it still owes more. When all is said and done, DIA will pay between $170 million and $210 million, according to airport officials. The total bill is still being hammered out in negotiations between the two parties.
DIA moved to terminate the contract after the revelation that bad concrete is laced throughout the terminal. The termination also followed big cost disagreements with the consortium, which claimed the project would cost $1 billion — not $650 million, the agreed-upon figure.
Airport officials are looking to move on from the catastrophe and move forward with the project.
“In the meantime, there is much going on behind the scenes on the Great Hall Project,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The Denver City Council OK’d $136 million in November to plug holes left by Great Hall Partners. DIA officials expect to propose a contract with the new builder, Hensel Phelps, in January. Construction should resume in January but the completion date has been pushed back to 2024.
Though DIA is owned by the city, its money comes only from profits made with airport operations.
