Denver International Airport pays last chunk of $184 million settlement, ending ugly relationship with ex-Great Hall developer

All bad things must end?
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Security lines weren’t actually that bad at Denver International Airport on a very snowy day, Oct. 29, 2019. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

Denver International Airport has paid its last installment to Great Hall Partners, putting a period on the airport's divorce with the group of private companies hired to renovate the main terminal.

DIA paid $55.5 million for its last installment, airport officials announced Friday. That sum is in addition to the $128.1 million paid in December.

The payment reimburses Great Hall Partners, led by Spanish company Ferrovial, for work done before the breakup began seven months ago over huge cost disagreements. The private consortium, which would have helped finance the project in return for profits from managing airport concessions, had sought $290 million, according to DIA officials.

"Paying these types of transition and contract breakage costs are typical when a construction contract is terminated for convenience and the Development Agreement between DEN and Great Hall Partners required these payments," a DIA spokesperson said in a statement.

The original public-private partnership was worth $1.8 billion. Crews restarted the Great Hall renovation earlier this month with a more traditional contract and a different developer.

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