Following an upswing in building activity here in 2013, some construction industry observers are optimistic that forward momentum will carry through the coming year.
Jan Quintrall, director of business and development services for the city of Spokane, says she expects 2014 will be a strong year for construction, following big gains in permitted construction here this year.
In the first 11 months of 2013, the total valuation for permitted construction in Spokane was $442 million, which is higher than any full year of construction valuations since 2006, when the city’s annual construction valuation reached a record $474 million, Quintrall says. The largest project permitted by the city this year was the $65 million convention center hotel that the Worthy Group is developing downtown.
 “We permitted a lot of stuff in the final quarter,” Quintrall says. “That means that work is going to be done next year. That’s where the jobs come in.”
The city of Spokane has projects under review valued at more than $75 million, she says, including the largest component of the long-planned $51 million Rockwood Retirement Communities expansion, at 2903 E. 25th, on the South Hill.
Also in the pipeline, but not yet in the permitting stage, are projects valued at more than $90 million, including the city’s $14 million fleet services center planned at 901 N. Nelson.
Kate McCaslin, president and CEO of the Inland Pacific Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors Inc., says construction activity increased somewhat this year compared with 2012, and she expects continued moderate improvement in 2014.
“We’re seeing gains and getting backlogs finally,” McCaslin says. “Everybody is reasonably busy.”
She says the private sector also is picking up. “Over the last several years, the public sector has propped the industry up.”
Dale Silha, director of business development at the Spokane office of Seattle-based construction and energy-efficiency contractor McKinstry Co., sees a favorable outlook for the company here.
“2013 has been another solid year, and 2014 will be as good or better,” he says.
He says McKinstry expects an uptick in construction and stable activity in the energy-efficiency side of the company’s projects.
“We’ve seen a lot more new construction starts and willingness to invest in existing buildings and even expand,” he says.
In the homebuilding sector of the construction industry, the city of Spokane and Spokane County issued a combined total of 875 permits through the first 11 months of 2013, an increase of 46 percent compared with the year-earlier period.
Looking to 2014, Brian Markham, owner of Spokane Valley-based Markham Homes Inc., says, “I’m thinking it’s going to be a good year.”
He says Markham Homes has built about 50 homes in 2013, which is close to prerecession levels for the company, and he expects the company will build 50 to 60 homes next year.
Markham Homes has presold about 10 homes so far for the 2014 construction season and likely would have sold a few more were it not for the government shutdown in October, Markham claims.