Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate interested in submitting proposal for KCI single terminal project

Edgemoor Infrastructure and Real Estate, a subsidiary of Clark Construction Group out of Bethesda, Md., is assembling a team inclined to submit a proposal for the Kansas City International Airport single terminal project.

As part of its team, Edgemoor, along with Clark, has included Des Moines, Iowa, contractor Weitz Company and Kansas City company Clarkson Construction.

The presence of a third consortium of companies hoping to land the KCI project ramps up competition, and the number of candidates the Kansas City Council will have to choose from in August for the long-awaited single terminal project.

“My gut reaction is that more is better,” said Kansas City Councilwoman Jolie Justus, who chairs the city’s Aviation Committee. “It’s exciting that so many companies are interested in Kansas City.”

Representatives from Edgemoor, Weitz Company and Clarkson Construction were gathered at KCI’s Terminal A on Tuesday for a tour with city staffers and other companies interested in submitting a proposal for the roughly $1 billion project.

Geoffrey Stricker, managing director of Edgemoor, confirmed his team’s plans to submit a KCI proposal. Stricker said his company has been considering the KCI opportunity for about a year.

“There’s obviously been talk in the marketplace about renovations or new construction,” Stricker said. “It’s an opportunity we have had our eye on for quite some time.”

Edgemoor is the master developer of the University of Kansas’ $350 million Central District project, which includes the construction or renovation of eight buildings on the university’s Lawrence campus. The Central District project is a public-private partnership with Edgemoor and KU.

Stricker said Edgemoor has experience in design, build and privately financed projects, and its owner Clark Construction Group, a $4 billion firm, has a long history with aviation projects, starting with Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport in 1975. The firm is currently doing work for airport projects at Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan National Airport, both in Washington D.C.

The Clark Construction team is the third company to express its interest in the KCI project. Burns & McDonnell and Americo Life Inc., as well as a team composed of Los Angeles-based AECOM, Oaktree Capital Management and Turner Construction, have announced their intention to submit a proposal as well.

Tuesday’s tour was an optional event for potential KCI terminal proposers; it was listed as an addendum to the original solicitation City Hall issued in June. Those at the tour speculated that BlueScope Construction, along with Jones Lang LaSalle, were considering a KCI proposal. Neither company would confirm their involvement on Tuesday.

Kansas City Aviation Department officials led the three teams on a tour of Terminal A, which was mothballed in January 2014.

A stroll through the dimly lit terminal concourse and interior corridors revealed an airport ghost town. Unused chairs and decommissioned airline check-in equipment rested in unorganized piles. Dust and debris covered floors at various sections of the terminal; the 19 people on the tour had to sidestep a couple of dead crows in a hallway that looked as though they had met their demise some time ago.

One former retail store in Terminal A was littered with open suitcases and clothes strewn about. David Long, deputy aviation director, remarked that the trash was a remnant of law enforcement canine training sessions.

This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate interested in submitting proposal for KCI single terminal project."