Charleston airport board delays contract for $150 million terminal makeover

Charleston County Aviation Authority on Monday did not sign the contract with the construction firm selected to oversee the $150 million makeover of Charleston International Airport’s aging terminal.

“We have a few technical things to work out,” airport board chairman and state Rep. Chip Limehouse said after a 40-minute closed-door meeting to discuss the contract. “It’s a $150 million contract so we are going to dot all of our ‘i’s and cross all of our ‘t’s. We are not going to make any hasty decisions.”

The board is negotiating the contract with a team led by Dallas-based Austin Commercial LP. It is partnered with local firm Hitt Contracting Inc.

The authority awarded the contract on March 22 to the Austin-Hitt team over a team led by Holder Construction Co. of Atlanta and its local partners Mashburn Construction Co., CCCS and Cumming.

They protested the bid on April 5, saying the selection process was tainted because former board member Joey Jefferson’s company Palmetto Civil Group LLC has ties to the Austin-Hitt team.

Jefferson resigned from the board April 12.

The Holder team is expected to refile the protest once the contract is signed, attorney Tom Hildebrand said Monday.

Limehouse expects the contract to be ready for the board’s signature in seven to 10 days.

Read more in Tuesday’s editions of The Post and Courier.

Reach Warren L. Wise at 937-5524 or twitter.com/warrenlancewise.