Palm Beach County to consider $18.8 million Morganti airport phase

Palm Beach County commissioners are scheduled to consider an $18.77 million first phase of the airport’s terminal and concourse modernization at their Tuesday, Oct. 20 meeting. The work is planned at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach, formerly Palm Beach International Airport. The regular agenda asks the board to approve Amendment No. 2 with The Morganti Group, setting a guaranteed maximum price of $18,768,500 for Phase I. The item is a staff recommendation, not an approved contract amendment. The county’s Oct. 20 agenda lists it as item 5B-1 under Airports.

The proposal covers a 621-calendar-day project duration and exercises the first one-year renewal option on Morganti’s construction-management contract, extending that contract through Oct. 21, 2027, according to the agenda summary. The 621 days describe the proposed project duration. The county materials do not provide a start date, so they do not establish when work would be completed.

Phase I would replace the terminal skylight and surrounding roof and demolish existing concessions. Those tasks are an initial package within a broader modernization plan. The county describes the larger project as creating a secure connector among Concourses A, B and C, renovating both security checkpoints, and adding restrooms, concessions and lounge space. The agenda does not say those later components are included in this $18.77 million phase.

The board is also being asked to approve a $9,300,944 transfer from the Airports Improvement and Development Fund to provide budget for Amendment No. 2. That transfer is a funding action tied to the proposed amendment, not a second construction award to add to the $18.77 million guaranteed maximum price. The county agenda does not specify in its summary how the transfer relates to other available project funds.

The action builds on a countywide contract approved in October 2024. At that time, commissioners authorized Morganti to provide construction-manager-at-risk services for campuswide facility improvements at Palm Beach International Airport. The agreement was structured around separate work orders, with individual projects to be assigned and approved later. The 2024 county agenda says the contract included a two-year term and three one-year renewal options.

Morganti’s role under the original agreement includes preconstruction and construction services, procurement for assigned work orders, project management and construction supervision. The 2024 county summary said its southeast regional office in Palm Beach County would directly manage the work. It also identified Cooper Construction Management and Consulting as a proposed partner for disadvantaged-business outreach, project management and supervision under the base contract. Those are program-level roles; the current agenda summary does not identify individual Phase I project leaders.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Item 5B-1 appears in the regular agenda after the consent agenda and public hearings, so the county’s posted schedule does not give a precise vote time. Readers should treat the proposal as pending until commissioners act. The agenda also can change before the meeting, making the final county posting and recorded vote the next checks.

If approved, the amendment would move this defined first phase into the county’s construction-management process. The agenda does not announce a construction start date, passenger-disruption schedule or completion date. Those details would depend on subsequent project steps and should not be inferred from the 621-day duration alone. The immediate decision is narrower: whether to approve Morganti’s Phase I price and the related airport-fund transfer.

Photo: formulanone, Palm Beach International Airport - Concourse C Aerial / Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 2.0. Color adjusted by 22Miami. The edited photo retains this license.