June.01.2016
LaGuardia Airport’s New Terminal B Redevelopment Project reached financial close today. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which has been operating LaGuardia Airport since 1947, selected LaGuardia Gateway Partners, a consortium led by Vantage Airport Group, Skanska Infrastructure Development and Meridiam Infrastructure North America, in May 2015 to build and operate a new Terminal B at LaGuardia.
The project is being financed with a combination of Port Authority funding, tax-exempt and taxable bond debt and sponsor equity, as well as airline and retail revenues, with equal shareholding among the three consortium partners. Debt entails about $2.41 billion of bonds, which priced on May 17 and reached financial close on June 1. In addition, the Port Authority will contribute over $1.5 billion for the design and construction of the new Terminal B facilities, certain supporting infrastructure and central hall elements. This Project is the first greenfield airport PPP project in the U.S. and the largest PPP project in North America to date. Construction will begin immediately, with most of the new terminal opening in 2020 and substantial completion anticipated during 2022. The new terminal will be built in phases and adjacent to the existing terminal, while flight operations continue without interruption.
This Project marks the achievement of another major PPP project under the auspices of the Port Authority. The Goethals Bridge project closed in late 2013.
An Orrick team led by partner Young Lee advised the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and included partners Dan Mathews, Richard Chirls and Keith Kriebel. Additional assistance was provided by of counsel Alex Selipanov, associates Victoria Boyne, Irma Foley and Wolf Pohl and senior counsel Bob Lawrence.