Sellen Construction
Specialty: Medical, office, arts, nonprofits
Management: Richard C. Redman, chairman; Robert E. Barrett, CEO; Robert P. McCleskey, president; Scott Redman, executive vice president of business development
Year founded: 1944
Headquarters: Seattle
2004 revenues: $250 million
Projected 2005 revenues: $340 million
Current significant project: Washington Mutual-Seattle Art Museum tower
Photo courtesy Sellen Construction Childrens' Hospital, a repeat client for Sellen Construction, is expanding its Seattle campus.
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Somewhere in the middle of 2004, the construction market started to pick up. People said they had a feeling it would, but they didn’t think it would happen so quickly, according to Scott Redman, Sellen’s executive vice president.
“Last year was a good year after a couple of slow years,” he said.
After the lull, Sellen picked up new work with repeat clients, Children’s and Swedish hospitals, for example.
Medical projects have always been a focus for the company, but with hot sectors in “a little bit of everything right now,” Redman said Sellen is taking on office and residential projects, too.
The company now has 30 projects in various stages of construction, the largest of which is the Washington Mutual-Seattle Art Museum expansion.
A trend Redman said he’s seen in the last year is wider acceptance of dense development, with more people coming around to the idea of mixed-use and sustainable design.
There’s been a renewed interest in residential density on the fringes of downtown, Redman said. “Lots of clients are looking at both mixed-use and urban high-rise residential projects,” he said. “You start to see a lot more of these in planning.”
More owners are folding sustainable components into their designs, said Redman, with some owners even going for special recognition under LEED.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system for buildings that was created by the U.S. Green Building Council.