Skanska USA is underway on 2+U, a 38-story office tower in the heart of Seattle's urban core.

BELLEVUE, WA—A 7% increase for commercial and multifamily starts in the Seattle metropolitan area during the first half of 2018 was the result of a 66% surge for multifamily housing, which outweighed a 46% decline for commercial building. The metropolitan area registered yearly increases for its commercial total from 2011 through 2017, including gains of 27% in 2016 and 8% in 2017, so the first-half 2018 increase is maintaining a well-established upward track, according to a mid-year study by Dodge Data & Analytics.

There were five multifamily projects valued each at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking during the first half of 2018, led by the $429 million multifamily portion of the $516 million 1200 Stewart St. mixed-use development, the $398 million multifamily portion of the $450 million Seattle Times mixed-use development, and the $200 million 6th Avenue and Wall St. building, all located in Seattle. The first-half 2018 decline for commercial building was relative to a strong first half of 2017 that included such projects as a $210 million office tower in Seattle and a $93 million Amazon distribution center in Sumner.

As part of the positive march in the first half of the year, Skanska purchased a 77,000 square-foot parcel at the corner of 108th Avenue NE and NE 8th Street in downtown Bellevue. Skanska will develop a class-A office project on a development site at the corner of 108th Ave. NE and NE 8^th, considered the gateway to the city center. The office tower will have approximately 500,000 square feet of commercial office space and ground-floor retail.