American tycoon Michael Russell's H.J. Russell joins $135 million Denver airport deal

H.J. Russell & Co., the Atlanta construction company run by American businessman Michael Russell, has been chosen with engineering group AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. to manage the expansion of the North Terminal at Denver International Airport, under a contract worth up to $135 million.

The two companies formed a joint venture, Mile High Delivery Partners, which will serve as program manager for the project for 10 years, AtkinsRéalis said in a statement on Nov. 4. The Denver City Council approved the contract in August as part of about $248 million in airport agreements. The companies did not disclose how the work will be split between them.

The joint venture will oversee planning, design, procurement, construction, project controls, risk management and operational readiness for the City and County of Denver's aviation department. The contract covers program management and does not include building the terminal itself. Construction is expected to start in 2028 or 2029.

The expansion will add check-in counters, security screening lanes, federal inspection facilities for international arrivals and baggage handling capacity. Denver, one of the busiest airports in the U.S., is preparing to handle as many as 100 million passengers a year, and 120 million by 2045. The airport has not published a total cost for the project.

"The North Terminal Expansion at DEN represents an important investment in shaping the future of aviation," said Ian L. Edwards, president and chief executive officer of Montreal-based AtkinsRéalis.

Airport work

The Denver deal adds to a string of airport contracts for H.J. Russell. The company holds a 40% stake in the joint venture managing the $1.4 billion widening of Concourse D at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which is expected to be completed in 2029. In 2022, it completed a $155 million modular gate project at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as a 10% partner, and it is part of a joint venture with Parsons Corp. on the terminal redevelopment at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Russell said last year that the company had annual revenue of about $300 million and set a goal of reaching about $1 billion by 2029, driven largely by work on data centers, hospitals and other mission-critical buildings.

The company was founded in Atlanta in 1952 by Herman J. Russell, Michael's father, who began as a plastering contractor and grew the business into one of the largest Black-owned construction firms in the U.S. He handed the business to his children when he retired in 2003 and died in 2014. The company's projects include Mercedes-Benz Stadium, State Farm Arena and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.