Lunken Airport Terminal Redevelopment Enters Construction Phase

A shuttered terminal at Cincinnati’s Lunken Airport has moved into the construction phase after city officials broke ground on a redevelopment project planned to cost more than $20 million.

The May 14 groundbreaking marks the start of a project that is expected to convert the former terminal into a hotel, restaurant and event venue. The City of Cincinnati is contributing $2 million toward the redevelopment.

The project is planned for a 50,000-square-foot terminal and is expected to be completed by the end of 2027. It is not yet an operating hotel, restaurant or event venue; construction is now beginning on the redevelopment of the closed facility.

What is planned for the terminal

The proposed reuse would add several hospitality and gathering spaces to the Lunken Airport property. Plans call for a 34-room hotel, a restaurant, three patios and 4,200 square feet of event space.

The combination would give the former terminal a use beyond airport operations, with lodging, dining and space for events in the same facility. The project represents a private-public investment in one of Cincinnati’s airport assets, with the city’s contribution covering a portion of the overall projected cost.

The city has described the terminal as shuttered before the redevelopment began. The construction effort therefore focuses on repurposing an existing airport building rather than opening a new airport terminal.

Public investment and airport planning

Cincinnati’s $2 million contribution is part of a project estimated at more than $20 million. The announcement does not identify the complete financing breakdown, so the city contribution should not be treated as the project’s full public subsidy.

The redevelopment also comes as the city works on a broader strategic plan for Lunken Airport. That planning effort places the terminal project within a larger look at the airport’s future, although the groundbreaking announcement does not provide the strategic plan’s final recommendations or a separate timetable for completing it.

For Cincinnati, the project matters because it puts a closed city-owned airport facility back into active redevelopment and adds planned hotel, restaurant and event capacity. Those uses could change how the terminal property functions once construction is complete, but the project’s practical impact will depend on the work reaching completion and the planned businesses becoming operational.

What happens next

Construction is expected to continue through the end of 2027, when the city expects the redevelopment to be completed. The public announcement does not provide a detailed construction schedule, identify a final operator or set an opening date for the hotel, restaurant or event venue.

Until those details are established, the next confirmed step is the construction phase itself. The project’s stated scope remains a 34-room hotel, restaurant, three patios and 4,200 square feet of event space within the 50,000-square-foot terminal.