NEW YORK – The agency that operates New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Thursday selected a team to build a new main terminal.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s board of commissioners voted to select LaGuardia Gateway Partners to replace the airport’s aging Terminal B, which dates to 1964.

The project includes developer Skanska USA Inc., architecture and engineering company HOK and financial firms Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. The work is expected to be completed by 2021 at a cost of $3.6 billion, according to the Port Authority’s capital plan.

Critics have compared the rundown airport to some in developing nations.

“For too long, LaGuardia has been the stepchild of our region’s airports compared to JFK (John F. Kennedy International Airport) and Newark International,” said Port Authority Vice Chairman Scott Rechler. “Today we took the first step in moving forward with a comprehensive master plan to redevelop LaGuardia into a 21st century, world-class airport that the state of New York deserves.”

Construction will be funded by a public-private partnership, with the private sector contributing more than $2 billion and the Port Authority more than $1 billion.

The Port Authority must combine its design for the terminal with recommendations from plans backed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, including retail and dining space, a hotel, a conference and business centre and other features.

In addition, a future rail connection is planned with an AirTrain connecting the airport to the city’s subway system.

Details of the plan are to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

“My directive was not to rebuild what was but imagine and build what should be,” Cuomo said in a statement. “This airport is the welcoming point to the greatest state in the country and New York deserves the best.”