Colorado Real Estate Journal - May 6, 2015
Walker Parking Consultants has begun the design of one of the largest design-build parking projects ever developed at a U.S. airport. The parking consulting firm is designing the 1,795-space parking structure at Denver International Airport. The four-story facility will be located on the southeast corner of the Jeppesen Terminal. Walker, which has designed parking structures at more than 80 airports nationwide, will serve as the designer while Swinerton Builders will oversee construction. The $46 million project is expected to be complete in summer 2016. “This is a landmark airport parking project,” said Bob Stanley, PE, LEED AP, managing principal of Walker Parking’s Denver office. “Most airports don’t think of design-build as an option for large parking facilities. However, this approach can provide significant benefits, providing a streamlined approach to promote cost savings and an overall reduction in the project delivery schedule. When you consider that most airports rely on parking as vital revenue sources, the time saved in developing new facilities can have a very positive effect on an airport’s bottom line.” The new Jeppesen terminal parking facility is part of a larger expansion project that will include the construction of an additional 261 parking spaces adjacent to the north end of the east parking garage. Another 430 spaces were recently added to the east and west economy lots through a redesign of the current layout. Upon completion of the project, DIA will offer a total of 19,496 garage parking spaces and will manage a total of 43,275 parking spaces. In 2014, the airport added reserved parking spaces in the east and west parking garages and electric vehicle charging stations were installed in late 2013. DIA also recently completed a project that retrofit more than 5,400 lights in the existing parking garages with energy-efficient LED fixtures to improve lighting and reduce energy consumption. Denver International Airport is the 15th-busiest airport in the world and the fifth-busiest airport in the United States.