Hoffman Construction Company is a privately held construction founded in 1922. It is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. It also has an office location in Seattle.[3] With a revenue of US$3.9 billion in FY2022, Hoffman was the largest general contractor in the Pacific Northwest as of June 2023.[4]
History
Lee Hoffman (born May 15, 1850) moved to Portland in the 1870s with his family and worked constructing bridges and other projects until his death, including the Bull Run pipeline.[5]
The company started out building primarily apartment buildings and industrial structures in Portland, and had grown to more than 400 employees by 1928.[6] One of the company's first prominent projects was building the Terminal Sales Building in 1926.[7] The next year Hoffman completed the Public Services Building, which was the tallest building in the city upon completion.[8] That year they also built the new Heathman Hotel, the Portland Theater, and an office building all on the same block on Broadway in downtown Portland.[9] In 1928, Hoffman constructed the 12-story Buyer's Building (now Loyalty Building) in just over six months.[10]
Hoffman expand to Seattle in 1929 with the construction of a 12-story apartment building at 1223 Spring Street.[8] The firm also built Cushman Dam No. 2 that year near Shelton, Washington, for Tacoma Power and Light.[10]
Oregon State Library in Salem
After the onset of the Great Depression, projects for the firm mostly dried up.[11] Hoffman went from 32 contracts in 1929 to just ten in 1932.[11] The last big project was a joint venture on expanding the Meier & Frank Building in Portland in 1930, with the next large project not coming until ten years later.[11] In 1932, the firm moved its offices into the Ladd Carriage House, where it remained until 1970.[12] During the Depression, much of the company's work shifted to government contracts, such as post offices in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Those included large ones in Salem, Longview, and Marshfield (now Coos Bay). Other public works included the Jackson County Courthouse, Tillamook County Courthouse, the Oregon State Library, the Quartz Creek Bridge on U.S. 26, Powerhouse No. 1 on the Bonneville Dam, and several viaducts in Oregon.[13] Hoffman also built the Portland Art Museum in 1931 and its 1938 expansion, as well as a new library at Willamette University in Salem (now Smullin Hall).[14]
Following the entry of the United States into the war, Hoffman continued work on military projects including more buildings for the Navy in Bremerton and construction on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and surrounding area, both as joint projects with other firms.[15] In all, Hoffman did $49 million in work for the federal government during World War II, including work at Camp Abbot, Camp Adair, Umatilla Army Depot, and a Navy hospital in Astoria, all in Oregon.[16] Other wartime construction included an aluminum rolling mill near Spokane, McCaw General Hospital in Walla Walla, and lots of housing near industrial centers in Washington.[16]
Post World War II
After the war, the firm remodeled pulp and paper mills for Crown Zellerbach Corporation in West Linn and Camas.[17] Hoffman also received several projects from the First National Bank of Oregon in 1946 to remodel and expand several branches in Portland and build a new one in Salem.[12] Also during the 1940s, the firm built a store and warehouse for Sears in Eugene, along with expanding the Portland store.[12] The next significant project came with constructing the new Oregonian Building in 1947 in downtown Portland.[18] The next year the company started construction on a new plant for Nabisco in Portland,[19] and in 1950 finished an aluminum plant for Alcoa in Vancouver, Washington.[20] During the 1950s Hoffman completed many projects for lumber industry companies such as Weyerhaeuser, Boise Cascade, Crown Zellerbach, and Georgia-Pacific, among others, plus more work at Hanford.[21]
In 1955, Burns Hoffman became president of the firm, with the company now called Hoffman Construction Company and owned by brothers W. Burns and Eric as father Lee Hoffman moved away from day-to-day work.[22][23] Eric Hoffman (1923–2016) became president of the company in 1956 and became chairman in 1974.[24] Lee Hawley Hoffman died on August 8, 1959.[25] Cecil Drinkward came to Hoffman in 1967 as a vice president, and his son Wayne joined in 1985.[23] Cecil Drinkward became president in 1974.[24] In the late 1960s, the company shifted emphasis from paper and forestry industry where they started to commercial construction.[26]
Standard Insurance Center in Portland, Oregon
In 1970, the company finished construction on the Georgia-Pacific Building (now Standard Insurance Center), the new headquarters for Georgia-Pacific and moved its own headquarters to one of the 30 floors.[27][28] That year it also won the contract to build the First National Bank Tower (now Wells Fargo Center) in Portland, which was completed in 1971.[29] Additional projects in the 1970s included the new campus of St. Vincent Hospital west of Portland, St. Peter Hospital near Olympia, part of the campus of The Evergreen State College, the Health Sciences Building on the Sylvania campus of Portland Community College, and Salem's new civic center.[30]
At the end of the decade, Hoffman finished the Sixteen Hundred Bell Plaza tower in 1977 and then finished One Union Square and the Westin Building both in 1981, all in Seattle.[35] Meanwhile, in Portland the company finished One Main Place in 1980, the Portland Building in 1982, the PacWest Center in 1985, the Justice Center in 1982, the Performing Arts Center in 1987, and the One Financial Center (now Bank of America Center) in 1987.[36] Other notable projects in the 1980s included the Farm Credit Banks Building in Spokane, plus the ARCO Tower and SOHIO Alaska Petroleum Company Headquarters in Anchorage, as well as water treatment plants in California and Alaska.[37] In 1983, the company moved its headquarters to what is now Unitus Plaza at 1300 SW Sixth in Portland.[28]
During the 1990s Hoffman shifted much work to construction for hi-tech companies such as Intel. This included work at Intel's Aloha Campus, New Mexico fabs, Chandler, Arizona fabs, and at its Hillsboro campuses.[38] Other projects included the Casey Eye Institute at OHSU in Portland in 1991, the Snake River Correctional Facility, the new Doernbecher Children's Hospital, as well at projects at Willamette University, Reed College, Oregon State University, Lewis & Clark College, Linfield College, and the University of Portland.[39] It also built the Oregon State Office Building in 1992 and Metro's headquarters in 1994, both in Portland's Lloyd District, and Portland's new federal courthouse.[40] Outside of the Northwest, the firm had projects in Washington, DC, Hawaii, and New York.[41] By 1994 the firm had grown to $613 million in contracts.[42] The younger Drinkward took over as Hoffman president in 1992.[23]
The Intel D1X project built by Hoffman was named as the largest construction project in Oregon history in 2017. Intel hired Hoffman for this project in 2010. The newspaper reports "several billion dollars" but the exact amount is a "closely guarded secret".[45] In 2015, Hoffman filed a $50.8 million lien on the D1X, and the lien stayed in place two years later in June 2017.[45] In December 2017, The Oregonian followed up to report that Hoffman had withdrawn the "mysterious $50 lien". According to a statement provided by Intel, ""We are pleased that the dispute has been amicably resolved. The terms and conditions of the resolution are confidential,"[46]
Hoffman moved into the Fox Tower in downtown Portland in 2000 after constructing the building, and added a permanent lobby exhibit showcasing the company's history.[47]
In 2023, the firm was ranked by Portland Business Journal as the #1 most admired real estate and construction company in Oregon.[48]
Health and Safety
Portland Tribune's Joseph Gallivan named Hoffman's 1715 S.W. Salmon St and Lincoln High School sites as those still carrying on business as usual during the COVID-19 pandemic.[49] A worker interviewed by Willamette Week on the Hayward Field renovation project site reports while Hoffman has issued strict social distancing instructions, it is realistically not being followed in the field. The same newspaper article also discussed a complaint filed against Hoffman with the Oregon OSHA on March 30, 2020 concerning the project at Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact which reads "Multiple employees are working in lifts next to each other, and lunch shacks are packed full of employees sitting next to each other".[50]Daily Journal of Commerce also identified Hoffman's 5 MLK, a mixed-use 17 story project near the east end of Burnside Bridge as a site where an OSHA complaint has been registered over social distancing and lack of hand-washing stations.[51]
Major Projects
Multnomah County's New Courthouse in progress. (April 2019)Doernbecher Children's Hospital in PortlandHenry M. Jackson Federal Building in Seattle
Hoffman is known for building the Fox Tower, Memorial Coliseum, the Oregon Convention Center and the Wells Fargo Center.[26]
Portland Building in Portland, Oregon,[61] completed in 1982, the concrete building envelope started leaking about five years after completion, then progressed to leaks around windows. Problems continued to worsen over the years despite repair attempts.[62]
^Gallivan, Joseph (March 17, 2020). "Social distancing? Not at these Portland construction sites". Portland Tribune. Retrieved April 6, 2020. Plenty of workers were at Lincoln High School building their new campus and at the Hoffman Construction site across the street, at 1715 S.W. Salmon St
^Post, Nadine M (August 14, 2020). "Drastic Rebuild Resurrects Graves' Landmark Portland Building". www.enr.com. Retrieved 2020-10-07. By 1988, there was evidence of efflorescence. Then, the building started leaking around the windows. Despite repairs, the conditions worsened... The original painted-concrete envelope leaks started about five years after the original building's completion in 1982. Numerous attempts over the years to plug the holes failed.
