Denver Intl. Airport Ends Contract With Great Hall Developer

DENVER, CO — Denver International Airport has ended its contract with the developer of its Great Hall. The developer, Great Hall Partners LLC, was hired to renovate the main terminal; however, a series of disputes and delays ensued, DIA officials said.

The contract with the developer was ended "for convenience" — a clause that allows the DIA and City of Denver to end the contract without giving a specific reason, officials said.

In a news conference held by the airport Tuesday morning, DIA Chief Executive Officer Kim Day said the renovations would likely resume early next year. The developer will have about three months to wrap up its work, according to several reports.

The contract was originally projected to cost $1.8 billion for the renovation and upkeep over three decades; however Great Hall Partners said they expected those costs to grow by millions of dollars. An exact estimate of the increased costs was not released.

(Stay up-to-date with Metro Denver news with Patch! There are many ways for you to connect and stay in touch: Free Newsletters and Email Alerts | Facebook)

A fire broke out in one of the DIA construction areas in late June, and airport officials said the accident was caused by the developer's failure to follow proper safety procedures, according to a Fox 31 report. Airport officials said the developer's construction practices put workers and flyers at risk.

Great Hall Partners released the following statement Tuesday afternoon in response to the allegations:

“We are disappointed with DEN’s decision and strongly disagree with their characterizations of how we have arrived at this point. We categorically reject their allegations around safety and change directives. As a firm, we have among the best track records in the world for adhering to the highest standards for safety. Indeed, the concerns we raised over concrete that was weaker than initially represented by DEN, were an important part of our safety analysis. In fact, the project contractor has a “recordable incident rate” of almost half of the national rate and has a zero “lost time injury rate.”

Unfortunately, until this point, confidentiality provisions in our contract prevented us from rebutting over the last several weeks a stream of unfounded complaints and allegations. The reality is that the Project’s time and cost overruns are a direct result of the discovery of weak concrete in some areas of the Terminal, which DEN did not disclose to GHP at the outset of the Project, and more than 20 large-scale, badly timed and unnecessary change directives issued by DEN to the design they had previously approved.

As DEN itself said in its press conference today, our Company has extensive global experience in successfully delivering major projects such as this on time and on budget. We would have preferred to work with DEN to bring this important project to successful fruition and believed with thoughtful intervention that this was still possible. We wish the people of Denver well and are committed to a professional and smooth withdrawal.”