Turner Construction


Specialty: Construction management, general contracting
Management: Thomas B. Gerlach Jr., senior vice president; Jack Beaudoin, vice president and general manager; Scott Holbrook, vice president and operations manager; Jackie Costigan, special projects division general manager
Year founded: 1902 nationally, 1976 in Seattle
2005 revenues: $295 million for Turner Northwest
Projected 2006 revenues: $550 million Current projects: 2200, Seattle; King County office building, Seattle; Sea-Tac Airport baggage screening facility

Image by Ron Lloyd Associates, courtesy King County
Turner Construction recently broke ground on the King County office building.

Is Seattle’s construction boom sustainable? Dan Kahn won’t say, but his company, Turner Construction, is enjoying the ride.

“Will (construction) level off or dive back down?” he asked. “If I knew the answer, I’d be worth a lot of money.”

Two busy years

Kahn, manager of business development and contract services for Turner, said the company has seen a strong upswing in activity over the last couple of years.


‘All the top-notch trade labor is spoken for. If it really starts getting busier, you can’t supplement with inexperienced labor.’

-- Dan Kahn

Turner Construction


“I think in ’04 we came alive,” he said. Hotel, retail and condominium activity has been especially strong, but Kahn said he’s waiting to see if other product types, such as office buildings, join the mix.

Turner has broken ground on the $92 million King County office building in downtown Seattle and will begin work on the 26-story City Center Plaza office tower in Bellevue this summer.

More typical are mixed-use projects such as Vulcan’s 2200, which Turner is set to complete this summer, as well as Beacon Capital Partners’ 5th and Madison condo tower and a Tarragon residential tower slated for Third and Virginia.

Tight labor market

Kahn

The surge in construction throughout the region is beginning to strain the labor pool.

“All the top-notch trade labor is spoken for,” Kahn said. “If it really starts getting busier, you can’t supplement with inexperienced labor.

“It’s just like football -— there’s critical key positions,” he said. “If you don’t have a good quarterback, you’re in trouble. A good superintendent who can manage a hard job is critical.”



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