Chicago has a builder for the centerpiece of its airport overhaul. The Department of Aviation awarded the design-build contract for the O’Hare Global Terminal to a joint venture of Clark Construction and Clayco, the anchor of the roughly $8.5 billion O’Hare 21 program, with construction expected to start in late 2026.
The Global Terminal tears down and replaces the 1960s-era Terminal 2 with a single building that handles domestic and international flights side by side, plus two new satellite concourses linked by underground tunnels. The design, led by the Studio ORD team, has been public for years; the news is that a contractor is finally on the hook to build it.
Why the award matters
Airlines have fought over gates and financing at O’Hare for the better part of a decade, and cost estimates have moved with them. Locking a design-builder converts a planning exercise into a construction schedule. For a program this size, that’s the moment risk shifts from “will it happen” to “can they hold the number.”
Part of a national terminal boom
O’Hare isn’t alone. Terminal work is running hot across the country, a trend we covered in airport construction’s record 2026, from DFW’s $12 billion Terminal F to JFK’s New Terminal One. The common thread is scale and delivery risk: mega-terminals, phased around live operations, delivered design-build to compress schedules. The O’Hare 21 Global Terminal now joins that list with a team attached.
Clark and Clayco both build at this weight class, and both know Chicago. The hard part starts now: phasing demolition and construction without shutting down one of the busiest airports in the world.
Reporting via Construction Dive.