LaGuardia revamp to cost $8 billion, take 10 years: experts

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a complete overhaul of one of the world’s worst airports on Monday, including plans for a new central terminal and two new adjoining terminals — but declined to give specifics about projected cost. Experts think the plans at LaGuardia could take 10 years and cost $8 billion.

Though Cuomo said construction would begin in 2016 and be completed in approximately five years, unnamed airport construction experts told Crain’s that the timeline was unrealistic. Doing so would entail redeveloping all three terminals at once, inhibiting airport operations, they said.

More likely, the Central Terminal will be renovated first, followed by Terminals C and D, the sources said. They pegged the completion date at 2026, optimistically.

Cuomo has also been mum on cost projections, which would require a demolition and reconstruction of what’s been maligned as a “third-world airport.”

The latest plans for the adjoining terminals represent an add-on to the $4 billion proposal revealed months ago to redevelop the Central Terminal. Construction experts said Terminals C and D could cost a combined $2 billion, while infrastructure improvements, including an AirTrain, could cost another $2 billion, bringing the total to $8 billion.

The Central Terminal Building will be financed by a public-private partnership between the Port Authority and LaGuardia Gateway Partners, while the governor said Terminals C and D would likely be covered by Delta, which leases the spaces. [Crain’s] — Tess Hofmann