Construction work officially took off Monday on O’Hare International Airport’s $1.3 billion new Terminal D project, according to an Aug. 18 news release from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office.
A joint venture composed of AECOM Hunt Clayco Bowa is the construction manager at-risk for the project, which will be the first major concourse built at the airport in more than 30 years. It’s part of a broader effort to set ORD up to handle growth in the coming years.
“By breaking ground on Concourse D, we are taking a critical first step toward enhancing how the airport welcomes and serves more than 80 million passengers each year,” Michael McMurray, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation, said in the release. He was one of the officials who joined the mayor and other aviation leaders to mark the beginning of construction.
New York City-based architecture and design firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed Terminal D, with the assistance of Ross Barney Architects and JGMA of Chicago and London-headquartered Arup, per the project website. The concourse’s tree-like structural design, inspired by the apple orchard that once stood in the area, opens up the building for easy wayfinding and unobstructed views.
Rendering of the south end overlook in Concourse D.
Courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Concourse D will include 19 new gates designed for narrow-body aircraft, with the flexibility to adapt 18 of those gates into nine larger ports that can accommodate wide-body planes, per the release. Planned amenities include more than 20,000 square feet of lounge space, 30,000 square feet of commercial space and a 450-square-foot children’s play area.
The project also entails approximately $300 million in related infrastructure improvements, such as a new central cooling facility located in the center of the airfield, along with pavement and utility work to support the upcoming Concourse E, according to the release.
Rendering of O’Hare’s new concourses D and E.
Courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Terminal D is the first of two new satellite concourses planned in the ORD Next modernization effort, a series of improvement projects that include:
- Replacing Terminal 2 with the O’Hare Global Terminal.
- Constructing the 24-gate Concourse E.
- Building a new underground tunnel to connect the expanded facilities.
The project is anticipated to create more than 3,800 construction jobs, per the release. Vertical construction will begin in spring 2026, and work is scheduled to wrap up in 2028.
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