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AirportImprovement.com      September 2026
TERMINALS 
SEA
partnership between general contractor Turner Construction and 
the Port’s environmental group. “Everybody was really focused 
on the same goal, when it comes to sustainability,” she says. 
“Sometimes you find yourself in situations where there might not 
be the same kind of commitment to go after those LEED points 
and achieve those goals with your contractors. But that was 
definitely not the case on this project. Turner brought a lot of 
resources and really smart, creative ideas to help us get here.” 
Building Up While Staying Open
Designing the building was only half the challenge. Constructing 
four new public levels over one of SEA’s busiest concourses 
required constant coordination among contractors, airlines, tenants 
and airport operations. “I think the most challenging thing was 
successfully building on top of what people are already working in,” 
Reiter says. “That’s all about teamwork.”
For many, teamwork became the defining lesson of the project. 
“We knew that we were building in the middle of the busiest 
corner of the airport,” Sheerer says. But personally, she relished 
the technical challenge of erecting and dismantling a tower 
crane—affectionately dubbed Crane Griffey Jr.—in the center of 
the space.
That’s not to say the coordination was always perfect. “There 
were several times where we stubbed our toes,” Sheerer recalls. 
“But everybody just really behaved exceptionally professionally, 
and had their eye on that bigger prize.”
One immovable deadline made the team’s shared commitment 
even more crucial. As construction progressed, a familiar phrase 
echoed through countless meetings: “FIFA is coming!” Seattle’s role 
as a World Cup host city meant the expansion had to open before 
huge waves of soccer fans descended on the city in mid-June. 
“There was no option,” Sheerer emphasizes. “We made it because 
a whole big group of people decided it was going to happen.”
According to Ducharme, that critical cohesion came from 
picking the right partners. “We started this project during the 
pandemic,” he recalls. “It necessitated a high degree of trust to 
create something special like this.”
Mercer credits Port personnel for protecting the original design 
vision throughout the multi-year process. “Airports are not all 
created equal,” she says. “And it is very true how that vision, and 
then the shepherding of that vision, can only come from a good 
internal team who believes in it and then wants to fight for it.”
Sheerer returns the compliment. “Everybody had the same goal 
in mind. It wasn’t the design team saying, ‘Yeah, but I really need 
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