The estimated cost of Denver International Airport’s showcase project is climbing again, this time to as much as $730 million when “related” costs are included.
On Monday, airport spokeswoman Stacey Stegman confirmed that overall project costs could grow 5 percent to 10 percent. That could raise the cost of building a hotel, public plaza and train station to as much as $598 million, up from $544 million.
That new estimate does not count $128 million in what the airport calls other, related costs such as new bridges to the terminal and a $54 million dispute with the Regional Transportation District over the train station. Stegman said those costs could increase by $4 million to $8 million as well.
The latest cost increase would put a project once budgeted at $500 million into a new range of $703 million to $730 million, counting related costs.
“A lot of it has to do with economic conditions,” Stegman said. As the economy improved, “labor and material costs have increased.”
TIMELINE: Learn more about the ups and downs of DIA’s terminal redevelopment since 2007
At the airport, rumors have circulated for weeks that project cost estimates had exceeded $700 million and that airport officials would have to inform Denver’s mayor and City Council, which approve budget increases.
Airport manager Kim Day is expected to discuss the new budget figures at the annual State of DIA luncheon Tuesday.
Denver Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz called the revised estimates very disappointing after she met with airport officials Monday.
“They told me at the beginning, ‘Well, we don’t want to ruin your day,’ but it did,” she said. “I told them I’m too old to cry.”
She said she understood some cost increases are attributable to unforeseen factors, such as the floods last September that pulled work crews into emergency repair work.
Faatz said DIA officials told her the airport has ample cash to cover the estimated cost increase and will not need to borrow more money.
Last year, the council approved a $44 million increase to a $500 million project budget. Stu Williams, the project director, said that resulted from final price quotes and improving market conditions that made construction more costly.
The Denver Post reported in March that the airport cut runway repair and other maintenance expenses by $200 million over the past two years as the terminal project costs rose. Airport officials said those reductions were not related to the project and that safety was not sacrificed.
Airport bond and capital budget documents show some terminal redevelopment items were reclassified as “additional related” costs when the project grew. DIA officials have said those items, which include the new bridges, are not part of the core project.
In August, airlines at DIA wrote airport officials warning that rising costs could impact their operations at the airport.
Sources told The Post that DIA will be required to build a new fire station before the new 519-room Westin hotel opens. Stegman said the Denver Fire Department has wanted a new station for more than a decade because of Peña Boulevard development, and its construction will be unrelated to the hotel.
Moody’s Investors Service assigned the airport a negative outlook for the past three years, in part because its large redevelopment project is expected to yield small profits. Airport officials say that after $800 million in debt increases since 2012, their borrowing is largely over.
DIA is a self-supporting department of city government, raising revenues from concessions, parking and airline fees.
David Olinger: 303-954-1498, dolinger@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dolingerdp
