Lease Crutcher Lewis
Specialty: Biotech, health care, education, office, retail, hotels, garages
Management: President and CEO Bill Lewis
Year founded: 1886; moved to Seattle in 1939
Headquarters: Seattle
2004 revenues: $203.4 million
Projected 2005 revenues: $240 million
Current significant projects: Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, Bellevue City Hall, Schnitzer Northwest’s Portalus in Bellevue, Horizon House
Rendering courtesy NBBJ Lease Crutcher Lewis is the general contractor for a new Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seattle.
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Bill Lewis is cautiously optimistic about 2005.
Architects and engineers clearly are busy these days. “That often indicates an upcoming increase in construction,” he said, but cautioned it could just be developers getting work done to line up permits.
Lewis predicted the residential market will continue to be strong.
His outlook for office is less rosy. “I don’t expect to see very many significant office buildings to be built (in Seattle) in the next few years. Bellevue will likely be different,” he said.
Lewis has done some high-profile retail projects, including Seattle’s Pacific Place. The company paused in that sector for awhile, but now it’s back, working on a large mixed-use project in downtown Kent called Kent Station.
Lewis said industry-wide health-care construction will continue strong as the market ramps up to meet the demand from aging baby boomers. But he was not so sure about biotech construction. Some projects are in the works in the Seattle area, but “it’s not clear to me it’s going to be a long, sustained cycle,” Lewis said. “There’s too much uncertainty.”
The company’s strategy for 2005 is to be nimble. “We’re going to need and want to be light on our feet,” Lewis said.