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One of the many signs of the ongoing construction boom in Portland is the plethora of projects for construction, architecture and engineering businesses.

From the PAE Living Building in Old Town to the new Hacker headquarters in District Office on Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and many more, firms across the metro area are investing in new facilities, workshops and offices.

One such project is taking place in Tualatin. There, general contractor LMC Construction is renovating its existing headquarters and adding approximately 13,000 square feet.

鈥淭hat tells you about the market,鈥� said Chris Duffin, founder and president of LMC Construction. 鈥淲e all are confident right now and feel good about the future of the Portland market, so we’re all making significant investments and planning on continuing to grow. We have a high level of confidence.鈥�

LMC Construction’s headquarters is on a five-acre property at 19200 S.W. Teton Ave. The building was originally constructed for NW Natural, which sold it to LMC six years ago.

鈥淲hen we first moved in we had a lot of room and we thought it would be another 10 years before we’d need to do anything,鈥� Duffin said.

By 2017, that had changed.

鈥淲e bought the place knowing at some point we were going to want to expand,鈥� Duffin said. 鈥淏ut I think we really started talking about it seriously about three years ago 鈥� and then finally kicked off a year and a half ago with design and moving forward with it.鈥�

By the time Carleton Hart Architecture began design work, LMC Construction was approaching 130 employees. It was a far bigger firm than when it started in 2004.

鈥淲e were very small; I think we had three of us,鈥� Duffin said. 鈥淲e’d have Christmas parties at Stanford’s at happy hour.鈥�

Then the firm successfully navigated the Great Recession, which battered the construction industry.

鈥淛ust focus on customer service and taking care of our clients 鈥� that’s the biggest lesson I took from the recession,鈥� Duffin said. 鈥淲e do a lot of affordable housing, so that’s one of the sectors that was still chugging along during the recession. It’ll continue, but that saved us right through the recession for sure.鈥�

By hiring skilled workers laid off by other firms, LMC Construction emerged from the storm stronger than ever.

Now, work on the additional space is ongoing. Roughly 5,000 square feet will be left as unfinished shell space for use as a workshop, storage and future expansion. The remainder of the single-story structure will hold new offices and conference rooms, which will also allow the firm to decommission a temporary job shack that was used for staff space.

鈥淢EP rough-in is going to cover inspections on Friday, and then we’ll start insulating,鈥� said Clyde Zahn, the LMC Construction project manager overseeing the work. 鈥淎fter that, drywall will be right behind and then the finish trades. And we’ll be done in early May.鈥�

Greenwork Metal carpenters are installing the metal roof and siding. Insulation Contractors of Oregon workers are insulating the interior, which will have vaulted ceilings and exposed glulam beams.

Oregon Heating is performing HVAC work, while Polaris Electric, Black Diamond Plumbing and Bridgeport Construction are carrying out electric, plumbing and drywall carpentry, respectively.

Other subcontractors working on the project include Lauzon Contracting (excavation and site work), Santiago Concrete (exterior site work), Whitaker/Ellis (concrete), Wood Mechanix (interior framing) and Fire Systems West (fire protection).

鈥淚t’s a fantastic team,鈥� Zahn said.