AHBL
Specialty: Civil engineering, structural engineering, landscape architecture, community planning, land surveying
Management: CEO Paul McCormick; partners Len Zickler, Allan Bessette, Doreen Gavin, Sean Comfort, Tom Hicks, John Becker III; associate principals Dan Booth, Duane Dietz, Richard Hartlage
Founded: 1969
Locations: Tacoma and Seattle
2003 revenues: $9.2 million
Projected 2004 revenues: $10 million
Largest current projects: City of Tacoma landfill, truck wash, white goods facility and greenhouse project; Eastside Catholic High School; Elmendorf Air Force Base housing privatization
Operating with a staff of more than 90, AHBL continues its original goal of 35 years ago to offer a collaborative approach to local and regional construction developments for both public and private clients. That scope encompasses creative design, cost-effective solutions, capturing and maintaining a sense of community and integrating the Northwest’s natural and cultural heritage into the changing urban landscape.
“Much of our emphasis is in working with local jurisdictions on low impact development practices, including zoning code language, public outreach and education, illustrations, site analysis, entitlements, cost evaluations, interagency coordination, civil engineering and stormwater design,” said partner Len Zickler.
The diversity of the firm’s services and clients has spurred growth over the past decade, particularly through the addition of new industrial and commercial clients and the recovery of the regional economy. Its staff of nearly 100 includes experienced individuals in a variety of disciplines, with “extraordinarily low turnover,” Zickler said.
Work ranges from civic buildings and military projects to mixed-use developments, schools, industrial facilities and housing to parks, botanical gardens and zoo exhibits. Current jobs include civil and environmental work at Fort Lewis, Seattle’s Northgate Library and Community Center, Eastside Catholic High School’s new Sammamish campus, the new Kingston High School, Bellevue Community College’s Science and Technology Building, Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park and Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.
“In everything we do our emphasis includes a multidisciplinary focus on environmental and sustainability aspects of each project so we can contribute positively to our communities,” Zickler said, emphasizing the large segment of LEED-certified professionals on the firm’s roster.
“Our growth over the past decade has been about 10 percent each year. When I came here in 1992 (at the original Tacoma office) we had 30 people, now we have nearly 100 in two offices and we’re considering opening an Eastern Washington office. We have a lot of experience in big-box industrial and commercial projects but while that part of the economy has been down the past few years we’ve seen a lot of new work with the military and school districts, both very healthy markets for us,” he said.
The Port of Tacoma has been a major client for 30 years. The firm is also involved in University of Washington projects and a small but important effort — the Sunflower Low Impact Development Housing Project on Vashon Island — Zickler said, “one of the first small housing developments to include fully integrated LEED technology.”