https://almanac.conventioncityseattle.com/tags/construction/Recent content in Construction on Convention City AlmanacHugoen-us© 2026 Ivan Schneider · <a href="https://conventioncityseattle.com/">Convention City Seattle</a> · Licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://almanac.conventioncityseattle.com/cities/seattle/construction/Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://almanac.conventioncityseattle.com/cities/seattle/construction/<h1 id="seattle-construction-phase-economics">Seattle: Construction Phase Economics<a class="anchor" href="#seattle-construction-phase-economics">#</a></h1> <p>The Summit cost $1.9 billion to build (some sources report $2 billion). This page tracks where that money went — not as a line item on the PFD&rsquo;s balance sheet (see <a href="https://almanac.conventioncityseattle.com/cities/seattle/finance/">Finance</a>), but as economic activity flowing through multiple jurisdictions during 2018–2023.</p> <hr> <h2 id="project-summary">Project Summary<a class="anchor" href="#project-summary">#</a></h2> <table> <thead> <tr> <th></th> <th></th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><strong>General contractor</strong></td> <td>Clark/Lewis Joint Venture (Clark Construction Group + Lease Crutcher Lewis)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Construction contract value</strong></td> <td>$960M (of ~$1.9B total project cost)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Architect</strong></td> <td>LMN Architects (lead), with Graham Baba, Scharrer AD, Rolluda, Tiscareno Associates</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Structural engineer</strong></td> <td>Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>MEP engineer</strong></td> <td>Arup</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Landscape</strong></td> <td>Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Cost consultant</strong></td> <td>Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Project manager</strong></td> <td>Pine Street Group LLC</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Groundbreaking</strong></td> <td>August 14, 2018</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Opening</strong></td> <td>January 25, 2023</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Original budget</strong></td> <td>~$1.6B</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Final cost</strong></td> <td>$1.9B (PFD audit) / $2B (press reports)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Overrun</strong></td> <td>~$300M</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Project Labor Agreement</strong></td> <td>Yes (union labor required)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>LEED</strong></td> <td>Platinum (December 2023)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h3 id="major-subcontractors">Major Subcontractors<a class="anchor" href="#major-subcontractors">#</a></h3> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>Subcontractor</th> <th>Scope</th> <th>Notes</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>American Bridge Company</td> <td>Structural steel (~22,000 tons), metal decking (1.4M SF), 157 buckling restrained braces</td> <td>Federal court found American Bridge &ldquo;solely responsible&rdquo; for months of delay</td> </tr> <tr> <td>MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions</td> <td>HVAC (mechanical piping, sheet metal, controls)</td> <td>Contract &gt;$100M; 1.6M lbs ductwork; 35 air handling units. Seattle-based.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Enclos</td> <td>Curtain wall / facade</td> <td>2,400+ units, 332 tons steel, 172,820 sq ft wall area</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Schindler</td> <td>Elevators and escalators</td> <td>61 units total</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Garco Construction</td> <td>Concrete</td> <td></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr> <h2 id="workforce">Workforce<a class="anchor" href="#workforce">#</a></h2> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>Metric</th> <th>Value</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Peak daily employment</td> <td>1,200–2,000 workers/day (sources vary)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Total workers over project life</td> <td>6,000+ unique workers</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Estimated worker-years</td> <td>3,400–4,600 (see calculation below)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Apprentice hours</td> <td>1,000,000+</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Apprentice share of workforce</td> <td>21.4%</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Construction sales tax paid</td> <td>$100M+ (WSCC claim)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h3 id="labor-cost-estimate">Labor Cost Estimate<a class="anchor" href="#labor-cost-estimate">#</a></h3> <p>Industry typical labor share for complex commercial construction: 35–40% of hard costs.</p>