Public Work Dominates Starts List

By Lucy Bodilly

The 2008 Northwest Construction Top Construction starts list concentrates on projects that broke ground in 2008, with a few significant ongoing projects included.

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The information was gathered through an e-mail solicitation and from data received during the 2009 Top Contractors survey. Indicative of the slowing economy, most of the projects are in the public sector, with school construction, civil and water projects most predominate. Few private projects broke ground this year, except in the health care arena.

Stimulus dollars received by public agencies are expected to keep the trend toward public projects strong.

In the private sector, buildings built for Microsoft lead the way with the tenant improvements at The Bravern in Bellevue and separate projects at the Microsoft campus included. Additional Microsoft campus project are on hold, until the economy improves.

Thanks to the rash of bond levies passed in 2007, school construction remains strong. Even smaller school districts have active programs, because of population influxes in their areas.

 For a list of projects reported by the Top Contractors in the region, both as starts and projects completed, see www.northwest.construction.com.