The City of St Louis in Missouri has launched a request for qualification (RFQ) for the concession of the St. Louis Lambert International Airport under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme in the form of a longterm lease for the operation of the Airport, which is currently owned and operated by the City.

The issuance of the RFQ is the next phase in a process the City launched in August 2018 with the formal appointment of advisors to assist the City in considering an Airport P3. The advisors included Moelis & Company (Lead Financial Advisor), McKenna & Associates and Grow Missouri Inc. (Project Coordinators) and others.

You can find details on the tender and the RFW document on our business opportunities page here.

The Airport P3, if consummated, would represent the first transaction of its kind for a major commercial service airport in the continental U.S.

The Airport is located approximately 14 miles northwest of downtown St. Louis and approximately ten miles from the center of the population of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. Light rail service connects downtown St. Louis and other regional/commercial nodes to an Airport stop at each terminal. The Airport serves several municipalities in and around St. Louis and St. Charles Counties in Missouri and St. Clair and Monroe Counties in Illinois. The St. Louis metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is the 19th largest MSA by population in the U.S. 

The Airport P3 represents a potentially transformative opportunity for the St. Louis region and for the U.S. infrastructure market. The region represents a strategic location near the population and geographical center of the U.S. and was ranked in the top 40% among the 200 largest metropolitan areas for the lowest total cost of doing business in 2019. The region is currently home to the headquarters of ten Fortune 500 companies, including Centene and Emerson Corporation among others. The region’s central U.S. location, low cost of doing business, and infrastructure capacity provide a robust business climate to support growth.

The deadline for the submission of qualifications is on November 1, 2019.