Hoffman Construction history

One of the company’s first prominent projects was building the Terminal Sales Building in 1926.

By 1927, Pete was ready to go into business himself and Hoffman Construction Company was incorporated.

The company started out building primarily apartment buildings and industrial structures in Portland, and had grown to more than 400 employees by 1928.

Hoffman expand to Seattle in 1929 with the construction of a 12-story apartment building at 1223 Spring Street.

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.

They also built the hospital at the Cushman Indian School in Tacoma, Washington, in 1941.

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.

The next significant project came with constructing the new Oregonian Building in 1947 in downtown Portland.

The next year the company started construction on a new plant for Nabisco in Portland, and in 1950 finished an aluminum plant for Alcoa in Vancouver, Washington.

The firm also built Portland’s Wilson High School, finishing the project in 1956, and expanded the Public Services Building that same year.

Lee Hawley Hoffman died on August 8, 1959.

Burns left the company in 1965 to pursue his own business and investments, at which time, Eric bought out his brother's interest.

Also, in 1967, Eric Hoffman devised an employee stock ownership plan whereby key company officials could purchase shares, which they sold back to the company upon retirement or severance.

In 1970, the company built the new Georgia-Pacific Building in Portland and moved its headquarters to occupy an entire floor of the building.

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.

Cecil Drinkward became president in 1974.

1975 Eric Hoffman becomes chairman, and Drinkward president of the company.

Also in Eastern Oregon, they built the largest cement plant in the Pacific Northwest at Durkee starting in 1978.

In 1983, the company moved its headquarters to what is now Unitus Plaza at 1300 SW Sixth in Portland.

1985 Wayne Drinkward joins the company.

It also expanded geographically with water purification facilities in California and Alaska in 1989.

The younger Drinkward took over as Hoffman president in 1992.

By 1994 the firm had grown to $613 million in contracts.

By 1996, Hoffman was the second largest with revenues of $660 million.

In 1997, Hoffman was second among builders in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, with $535 million in total revenue and about 350 salaried and 500 hourly employees.

In 1998, it began work on Doernbecher Children's Hospital, part of the Oregon Health Sciences University's medical complex.

In building the Fox Tower skyscraper, beginning in 1999 in downtown Portland, Hoffman employed a "jump form" construction system to create the building's reinforced concrete elevator core.

Hoffman ranked 21st with its revenue of $826 million in 2000.

But by 2002, revenue had increased again to $842.5 million, and Hoffman, the largest general contractor in the Pacific Northwest, was back on a growth track, taking advantage of the shift to a health care building market. "Part of this is that the baby boomers are aging.

They are demanding single rooms in lodge-like settings, and they have the money and the medical coverage to get it," explained Bart Eberwein, Hoffman's vice-president of development and marketing in a 2003 Engineering News-Record article.

In fact, Hoffman continued to focus on region rather than a type of construction. "You can be a niche player, but that's a risk," said Drinkward in a 2005 Oregonian article.

Intel hired Hoffman for this project in 2010.

In 2013, the firm was listed as one of Oregon's most admired companies.

Hoffman Construction receives Minnesota DOT 2017 Outstanding Performance Award for TH 1 Eagles Nest project

COMPANY PRESIDENT JOINS STATE’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE, WORKERS AND AREA CONTRACTORS TO MARK BEGINNING OF EARTH MOVING WORK EFFORT WILL MOVE 4 MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF SOIL BETWEEN NOW AND OCTOBER 2018

It also has an office location in Seattle. It was the second largest general contractor in the Portland metro area in April 2019.