AUSTIN, Texas — Editor's note: The video above was published in August 2022, when the operator of LoneStar Airport Holdings initially sued the City of Austin.
The City of Austin has been ordered to pay the operator of the airport's South Terminal $90 million in damages, according to a report from KUT.
KUT reports that the City was ordered to pay the operator of LoneStar Airport Holdings $90 million to evict the company so that the building can be demolished.
In August 2022, the City offered to pay $1.95 million to the company after approving a plan to file eminent domain in June 2022. The plan was to take over the South Terminal to add more gates to the main Barbara Jordan Terminal.
If the City was successful in their bid to use eminent domain, the South Terminal would allow the Austin airport to make room for an expansion to include a new concourse with 10 to 40 new gates.
LoneStar claims to have invested $50 million since taking over the terminal in 2016, according to KUT's report. The company has 23 years left on its lease.
The order for the City to pay LoneStar comes from a panel of special commissioners in Travis County Probate. The commissioners assessed the cost of LoneStar's lease for the separate terminal from the Austin airport.
According to the KUT report, LoneStar is now suing the City in federal court for "alleged breach of contract," claiming that a provision in the lease agreement allows LoneStar the option to be included in any expansion plan at the airport.