Hoffman Construction Co.
Specialty: Medical, high-tech, education, cultural, sports, industrial, office, prisons, marinas, wastewater treatment plants
Management: Tom Peterson, vice president/general manager, Seattle division
Year founded: 1922
Headquarters: Portland
2004 revenues: $480 million company wide; $105 million Puget Sound region
Projected 2005 revenues: $600 million company wide; $200 million-$250 million Puget Sound region
Current significant projects: Brightwater and Everett wastewater treatment plants, Shilshole Bay Marina renovation, Skagit Valley Hospital, Federal Reserve Bank in Renton
Rendering courtesy KMD Architects Hoffman crews expect to begin building Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon this summer.
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It was a watershed year for Hoffman Construction, which landed a number of major projects in 2004, including King County’s Brightwater wastewater treatment plant and the Port of Seattle’s Shilshole Bay Marina renovation.
The employee-owned company responded by doubling its number of employees to 80 and moving to larger Seattle quarters at 1505 Westlake Ave. N.
Technically, the company’s headquarters are in Portland, but Hoffman is “sort of growing into a two-headquarter company,” said Vice President Bart Eberwein. “We’re equally strong in both (cities).”
Hoffman finished construction of Seattle’s landmark Central Library in 2004 and is looking to parlay that into a new business line. It’s so new the company is unsure what to call it, but the working title is buildings-as-art.
“We are developing a specialty and somewhat good reputation of taking high-end architectural projects and making them successful,” Eberwein said. “That’s sort of the glint in our eye.”
Hoffman rode out the recession by working on the library and other public projects. The company will spend this year trying to win office and other private projects that Eberwein expects might begin in late 2006 or 2007.
He anticipates inflationary pressures on the construction industry will flatten some in 2005. The unanticipated spikes in the prices of steel and other commodities during 2004 “seem to be done. We are back to historically familiar inflation rates.”
The challenge in 2005 is a number of marquee projects will begin at the same time for Hoffman and others. If this happens, it will be harder for contractors to put together what Eberwein calls A-list project teams.
Other industry-wide issues are safety plus “walking the talk” on sustainability and diversity, especially in the Northwest, he said.