It looks like five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson is adding a new title-airport mogul-to his illustrious resume.
The former Los Angeles Laker is now betting hard on New York, with a major investment in the city's ambition new LaGuardia Airport project.
His involvement in LaGuardia was announced at a press conference in Queens, New York on Tuesday, the same day the airport broke ground on its eastern portion.
Johnson's involvement in the project comes via JLC Infrastructure-a joint venture between Magic Johnson Enterprises and Loop Capital Markets LLC-which has committed $10 million to LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP), the firm that is currently at work building the western part of the airport.
The investment comes after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo mandated that a project of this size and scope must have an equity stake from a Minority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE.)
"By welcoming Loop Capital and Magic Johnson Enterprises as a full partner and owner-and not just contracting for work or services-the Governor has sent a message loud and clear that this state demands MWBEs have the opportunity to not only partner and compete on the front lines, but also in the boardroom," said Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, at the press conference.
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When LaGuardia begins operations in 2020, it will have been a quarter century since the last airport opened in the U.S.-Denver International Airport began service in 1995.
In total, the LaGuardia project will cost $8 billion, including $6 billion in private sector investments. The new facility will incorporate a number of ambitious projects, including a unified airport terminal-passengers will check in for all flights from a central concourse-and moving the entire facility closer to Grand Central Parkway.
By moving the buildings, the new airport will nearly triple its ground operations space, in what Delta CEO Ed Bastion called, "one of the most difficult operational environments we have, not just in our country but in the world."
It will also add more than two miles to its taxiways to help reduce ground delays.
The western part of the airport-which will house United, American, Southwest and Air Canada-is already under construction following a groundbreaking in June 2016. Tuesday marked the groundbreaking of the airport's eastern segment, dedicated to Delta Air Lines' operations.
Delta is contributing $3.4 billion to the project, the largest single investment ever for the airline. It will operate four concourses with 37 flexible-sized gates. The airline also said it will feature 30 percent more concession space and a larger Delta Sky Club with a sky deck.
At the press conference, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave spoke on the importance of developing new infrastructure in New York.
"Either you are building and developing or you are going backward," said Cuomo. "Because if you're not building and developing, your competition surely is."
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"We are living off the inheritance not of our parents, of our grandparents," he said. "Everything you see, all the infrastructure you see, everything we built, all these great accomplishments [are] literally from our grandparents' generation. But, while we've been standing still, our competition around the globe has been working and building and developing.
"For decades, this nation has done nothing. Nothing. We've let our competition pass us by. Today [is] a different day, my friends."
The new LaGuardia Airport is expected to be fully operational by 2021.
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