The selection of a bidder to head the $3.6 billion overhaul of LaGuardia Airport’s main terminal has been delayed until September.
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which began the vetting process over a year ago, had been expected to select a winner at a July 23 board meeting in Manhattan. But sources say the agency decided to push back the selection so that it could have additional time to evaluate the bids and weigh what work needs to be done to the rest of the airport.
When a winning bidder is selected, the Port Authority is expected to also release another request for proposals from the private firms on how best to go about refurbishing the rest of the airport, which opened 75 years ago.
The delay isn’t the first for the project, which was originally slated to be underway by this month. A Port Authority spokesperson told Crain’s that the agency had previously specified only that it would select a winning bidder by the end of the third quarter of this year.
The planned redevelopment has shifted its focus since the initial proposal, sources told Crain’s. An initial plan called for a private sector group to rebuild the main terminal, including retail spaces and aircraft gates, with the Port Authority handling nearby infrastructure changes such as roads and parking garages. Now, the winning bidder will be expected to shoulder responsibility for those revamps in addition to work inside the terminal. [Crain’s] — Julie Strickland
