A recent publication of “Downtown Seattle” stated that as of June 2016, there were 65 buildings under construction, the most in more than a decade. Downtown Seattle’s construction boom continues with a record level of investment heading into 2016. The past two years have seen investment levels higher than at any point since tracking began. In mid-2015, more than $4 billion of construction projects were under construction. The construction cost for projects under construction is currently at $3.5 billion. This is more than double the $1.6 billion under way five years ago.
The building boom in Seattle is somewhat isolated from the national picture which is still way below the 2008 boom. ProCost believes that Seattle may experience escalation in costs as much as 5% PA in the short term before returning to national average of 1% to 2% PA.