Opening day set for DIA hotel; runway resurfacing begins this month
Denver International Airport officials on Monday announced both the opening date for DIA's new hotel and the kickoff of a $46.5 million resurfacing project on one of its most heavily used runways.
The Westin Denver International Airport, now under construction, will open on Nov. 19, coming in as promised before the end of the year, said Tom Curley, the hotel’s general manager. He and airport leaders started an official countdown clock in the structure ticking away the 173 days until that date.
Officials believe the 519-room hotel and its 37,000-square-foot conference center will attract fly-in conferences from across the United States and will offer a needed stream of non-airline revenue for the airport.
DIA will become one of only a handful of major airports in the world with a hotel connected to its terminal, and the hotel will be one of the closest to a terminal in the country, with its main floor separated from the main DIA building only by a courtyard, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock noted.
“This hotel is an amenity that is going to raise the airport to a new level. We will compete on the international development front in a whole new way,” added Kim Day, DIA's chief executive. “We’re actually going to be creating a new market with the conference center.”
When it opens, the Westin DIA will be just the fifth new hotel of that brand opened in the U.S. in 2015 and 14th worldwide, said Bob Jacobs, vice president for brand management at Sheraton & Westin North America, part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. He called it “one of our most significant — if not the most significant — Westin opening we’ve done in the past five years.”
Airport officials also are undertaking significant work on one of the facility’s four north-south runways.
About 2,180 concrete slabs on Runway 17L-35R that are showing signs of deterioration will be removed and replaced with new panels.
Also, officials will install a runway pavement sensor system that will allow DIA to monitor the concentration of chemical deicing agents applied during winter storms. The system will help airport officials better calculate and manage the freezing point of the surface and the amount of deicing material needed.
The runway will be closed roughly from June 1 to Sept. 15 for the work to proceed.
“DIA is now 20 years old, and there is an increased requirement for maintenance of the facility,” said Ken Greene, chief operating officer for the airport. “Our robust pavement management program allows us to efficiently track the age and condition of more than 150,000 individual concrete panels on the airfield and to make proactive maintenance decisions that will help to ensure the safe operation of more than a half-million flights a year.”
While that project will be funded through a combination of Federal Aviation Administration grant funds and airline fees, a separate project just south of the airport will be financed privately.
Fine Airport Parking is scheduled to break ground this month on a $25 million parking project on East 56th Avenue in Aurora. The 800,000-square-foot business will include 3,000 spaces — including 2,000 valet and covered spaces — a full-service detail shop, a 24-hour valet and round-the-clock shuttles to DIA.
Reported by: Denver Business Journal
The Westin Denver International Airport, now under construction, will open on Nov. 19, coming in as promised before the end of the year, said Tom Curley, the hotel’s general manager. He and airport leaders started an official countdown clock in the structure ticking away the 173 days until that date.
Officials believe the 519-room hotel and its 37,000-square-foot conference center will attract fly-in conferences from across the United States and will offer a needed stream of non-airline revenue for the airport.
DIA will become one of only a handful of major airports in the world with a hotel connected to its terminal, and the hotel will be one of the closest to a terminal in the country, with its main floor separated from the main DIA building only by a courtyard, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock noted.
“This hotel is an amenity that is going to raise the airport to a new level. We will compete on the international development front in a whole new way,” added Kim Day, DIA's chief executive. “We’re actually going to be creating a new market with the conference center.”
When it opens, the Westin DIA will be just the fifth new hotel of that brand opened in the U.S. in 2015 and 14th worldwide, said Bob Jacobs, vice president for brand management at Sheraton & Westin North America, part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. He called it “one of our most significant — if not the most significant — Westin opening we’ve done in the past five years.”
Airport officials also are undertaking significant work on one of the facility’s four north-south runways.
About 2,180 concrete slabs on Runway 17L-35R that are showing signs of deterioration will be removed and replaced with new panels.
Also, officials will install a runway pavement sensor system that will allow DIA to monitor the concentration of chemical deicing agents applied during winter storms. The system will help airport officials better calculate and manage the freezing point of the surface and the amount of deicing material needed.
The runway will be closed roughly from June 1 to Sept. 15 for the work to proceed.
“DIA is now 20 years old, and there is an increased requirement for maintenance of the facility,” said Ken Greene, chief operating officer for the airport. “Our robust pavement management program allows us to efficiently track the age and condition of more than 150,000 individual concrete panels on the airfield and to make proactive maintenance decisions that will help to ensure the safe operation of more than a half-million flights a year.”
While that project will be funded through a combination of Federal Aviation Administration grant funds and airline fees, a separate project just south of the airport will be financed privately.
Fine Airport Parking is scheduled to break ground this month on a $25 million parking project on East 56th Avenue in Aurora. The 800,000-square-foot business will include 3,000 spaces — including 2,000 valet and covered spaces — a full-service detail shop, a 24-hour valet and round-the-clock shuttles to DIA.
Reported by: Denver Business Journal
