LaGuardia’s $5.3B overhaul expected to get go-ahead Thursday

The $5.3 billion redevelopment plan for LaGuardia Airport is expected to jump one key hurdle this Thursday: get approval from the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The bi-state agency’s board is expected to authorize the project, which just last month was supposed to cost roughly $4 billion.

If the vote goes through, the Port Authority will enter a lease with LaGuardia Gateway Partners, which will overhaul Terminal B as well as pay for a part of the renovations, Crain’s reported. In return for ponying up funds, LaGuardia Gateway Partners will get a piece of the new terminal’s revenue.

Despite the likely green light, there are concerns about the costly project. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pressed for a $300 million plan for an upgraded entranceway, which would have retail space, in the terminal. It would also connect to Terminals C and D, operated by Delta Air Lines, Crain’s reported.

Delta has yet to say whether it will build two new terminals, a multibillion-dollar investment needed to make Cuomo’s vision a reality.

“Without Delta, the grand entrance is an entrance to nowhere,” said a New Jersey source to Crain’s.

The LaGuardia overhaul is part of Cuomo’s ambitious infrastructure agenda that includes a $100 billion investment into projects statewide. [Crain’s] — Dusica Sue Malesevic