At a Glance

Sector:  Aviation / Transportation

Location:  Kansas City, MO

Delivery:  Public-Private Partnership

Scale:  1.1 Million SF Single-Terminal Airport | $1.5 Billion 

Result: Delivered Early and Under Budget | Largest Infrastructure Project in Kansas City History | Top 0.5% of Mega-Projects Worldwide for On-Time, On-Budget Delivery and Meeting All Stated Commitments (Independent Consultant Analysis)

The Situation

We were already working at the University of Kansas and flying in and out of Kansas City regularly. Over time, we had gotten to know the city, its people, and the challenges facing its aging airport terminal, a facility that had served the community well for decades but was increasingly strained by the demands of modern air travel and post-9/11 security requirements.

We had met with the Aviation Department and knew they wanted a new terminal, but at the time there was no political or community momentum to move forward. The project was effectively stalled. Then in 2017, a local firm submitted an unsolicited proposal to the city to redevelop the airport. The city council refused to sole-source a billion-dollar project and issued an RFP for other teams to compete for the work.

There was healthy skepticism within our team about whether a non-local firm had a realistic chance. But we believed in what we could bring to the table, and collectively decided to shoot our shot.

Winning the Work

We had roughly three to four weeks to put together a very large proposal, and from the start, our strategy was different from what you'd typically see. Rather than showing up with polished architectural renderings of what the airport could look like, we proposed something that we felt would resonate more deeply with the city. Instead of telling Kansas City what their airport should be, we decided to ask them, and then design an airport that reflected what they told us.

After submitting our proposal and completing our interview, we walked out of the Aviation Department to find several reporters with cameras and microphones waiting to ask questions. It was the first of what would become a tremendous number of media interactions throughout the life of this project, and an early signal that this was going to be unlike anything we had been a part of before.

Around Labor Day 2017, we got a call asking us to come to the city manager's office. When we arrived, there was an easel in the corner with a sheet over it. The city manager walked over, pulled the sheet off, and our logo was on the board underneath. That's how we found out we won, and honestly, none of us had expected it.

Navigating the Politics

Because the Aviation Department is a division of the city rather than an independent airport authority, the mayor and city council had to vote on everything, from the selection committee recommendation to every contract along the way. That structure meant the project carried a level of political complexity that went well beyond the typical development process.

The path to getting our contract approved was not straightforward. It took multiple rounds of negotiation and more than one vote before the city council ultimately approved the agreement. It was a challenging process that required patience and persistence, but it only strengthened our resolve and our commitment to demonstrating why we were the right partner for this project.

That early experience was invaluable. It reinforced something that would prove true throughout the life of the project: on something this visible, with this many stakeholders and this much public attention, you have to earn trust every single day. That mindset guided our team from that point forward.

Designing with the Community

One of the commitments we made from the beginning was that this airport would be shaped by Kansas City, not handed to them. We went into each of the six city council districts and held community design meetings in high school gyms and community centers, spending hours asking residents what mattered most to them. We compiled that feedback into a report and used it to directly inform the design of the terminal.

The results are visible throughout the building. Kansas City is known as the City of Fountains, and there are fountains in the terminal. The city has deep roots in barbecue, and so local restaurants replaced national chains. Restrooms, one of the most common complaints about the old terminal, were completely rethought with significantly more capacity and modern features like occupancy indicators for individual stalls. These weren't cosmetic touches added at the end. They were design decisions that came directly from the community and were carried through from the earliest stages of the project.

That level of engagement didn't stop with the design phase. Throughout the life of the project, our team regularly presented updates to city council subcommittees, participated in ongoing media coverage, and maintained constant communication with stakeholders across the city. From start to finish, Kansas City had a voice in what was being built, and the final product reflects that.

Calling an Audible

A couple of months into construction, Kansas City announced it had won the rights to host the 2023 NFL Draft. The city manager invited us to his office the day of the announcement and casually asked when the airport would be open. We told him around Memorial Day 2023. He smiled, paused, and asked again. And then a third time. By the third ask, we got the message loud and clear: Memorial Day wasn't going to cut it. The airport needed to be open well before the Draft in late April, giving the city enough time to operate under normal conditions before one of the biggest events in the country arrived on its doorstep.

Our team took it seriously. We wanted to help our partners in Kansas City hit this milestone, and we were determined to make it happen. We pulled the entire team together, laid out the new target, and got everyone to commit to an accelerated timeline that would have seemed unrealistic just days earlier. Through an incredible collective effort, the project was delivered in February 2023, months ahead of the original schedule and under budget. 

Delivering on Every Commitment

From the very beginning, we were determined that the benefits this project delivered to the local community would be just as important as the airport itself. In our industry, commitments around local business participation and workforce development are often treated as aspirational targets, something you spend some time on, but ultimately accept whatever the outcome is. We didn't see it that way.

We set targets for minority and women-owned business participation and exceeded both, not just in contracts awarded but in the actual workforce on the ground building the airport every day. We delivered on the Terminal Workforce Enhancement Program, which provided workforce training, job training programs, transportation to the job site, access to daycare, and on-site medical support for workers. These weren't line items in a proposal. They were woven into how the project was managed from day one, and our team held ourselves accountable to every one of them.

Those community commitments were part of a broader standard we held ourselves to on every aspect of this project. An independent consultant who specializes in studying mega-projects, defined as projects exceeding one billion dollars, analyzed the outcome against thousands of projects across the globe. His conclusion was that fewer than half of one percent of all mega-projects worldwide are completed on time, on budget, and successfully deliver on the commitments that were made. The Kansas City International Airport New Terminal was in that half of one percent.

Recognition

The Kansas City International Airport New Terminal has received over 30 awards since opening in February 2023, including:

Design & Construction:

• DBIA — National Project of the Year (2025).

• DBIA — Best in Process, Progressive Design-Build (2025).

• DBIA — Project/Team Merit Award, Aviation (2025).

• DBIA — Trailblazer in Inclusive Growth (2025).

• DBIA — Mid-America Region Project of the Year (2024).

• DBIA — Mid-America Region Commercial Excellence Award (2024).

• AGC — Baldwin Group Build America Award, Design-Build Building $100M+ (2025).

• ASCE/AEI — Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (2023).

• ENR — Award of Merit, Airport/Transit (2023).

• SEAoNY — Structural Engineering Excellence Award (2023).

• AIA — Honor Award, Garage at the New Terminal (highest recognition in AIA awards program).

• American Concrete Pavement Association — National Award for Excellence.

• CID Coverings Installation & Design Awards — International Commercial Tile Installation of the Year (2024).

Airport & Travel Industry:

• Prix Versailles — World's Most Beautiful Airports List (2024).

• J.D. Power — #3 Large Airport in Annual Customer Satisfaction Study.

• Airport Business — Project of the Year (2024).

• Uber — Airport of the Year, Smartest Space Award.

• Airport Experience News (AXN) — Best Local Inspired Store, Medium/Small Airports.

• Airports Council International North America — Richard A. Griesbach Award of Excellence (highest honor for airport concessions).

• Airport F&B + Hospitality International Awards — Regional Winner, Americas & Caribbean.

• The Moodie Davitt Report FAB Awards — Global Airport Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year.

• Great Lakes Chapter AAAE — Commercial Airport Project of the Year, Architectural.

Community & Diversity:

• P3 Bulletin — Social Impact Award (2024).

• Profiles in Diversity Journal — Top 10 Innovations in Diversity (2020).

• Mid-America Regional Council — Regional Leadership Award (2024).

• Kansas City Business Journal — Capstone Award, Judges' Special Recognition (2024).

• The Builders — Building Excellence Award, Project of the Year (2024).

Sustainability:

• LEED v4 Gold BD+C: NC — first terminal/concourse project in the U.S. to achieve this certification.

• IES — Illumination Award (2024).

Edgemoor partner Geoff Stricker, who led this project from pursuit through delivery, was named one of the 100 most powerful people in Kansas City by the Kansas City Business Journal two years in a row, despite never having lived there. That says something about the impact this project had on the city.

The Bigger Picture

When we think about what made this project special, it always comes back to Kansas City itself. From the very first community design meeting in a high school gym to the day the doors opened, the people of this city shaped what their airport became. Not our architects working in isolation, not a developer imposing a vision, but residents and community leaders telling us what mattered to them and trusting us to follow through.

That trust was not given lightly, and we never took it for granted. Every decision, from the local restaurants that replaced national chains to the workforce commitments that put Kansas City's own people to work building their airport, reflected a shared belief that this project belonged to the community first.

By any measure, this was a landmark project. The largest contract in Clark Construction's history at the time it was signed, the largest infrastructure project Kansas City had ever undertaken - a $1.5 billion investment that was ultimately delivered early, under budget, and in the top half of one percent of mega-projects worldwide. With all of that, it would have been easy for a project of this scale to lose sight of the people it was meant to serve. We are proud that it never did. Kansas City trusted us with the biggest project in their city's history, and together we built something none of us could have built alone. That's what happens when everyone involved truly cares. And on this project, everyone did.