Mason & Main

Mason & Main

Built in two phases between 2019 and 2022, the Mason & Main community includes 550 units (26% of them are affordable housing) distributed across two nine-story towers, with retail and parking space included.

With a new, adjoining park, plantings on every horizontal surface, and local artist murals inside and out, Mason & Main is an inviting addition to a vibrant, mixed-income neighborhood. But it faced more than its share of uphill battles. In fact, in one sense, the story of Mason & Main is a story of the external forces that can bear on construction projects — and the ways contractors get creative to find solutions.

The Covid-19 Effect

Mason & Main Phase 1 broke ground in December 2019. And you don’t need to work for Compass to know what happened next: COVID-19 shut down the state of Washington in April, 2020. The government-mandated shutdown lasted a month, and Compass, alongside owner Lowe and its financing partners, worked to minimize its effects. But the ripples COVID sent through the construction market were only beginning.

Supply chain issues became endemic, affecting everything from switchgear to light fixtures, appliances, and countertops. Service interruptions related to COVID and weather issues resulted in the project receiving municipal power nine months behind schedule. But the Compass team and its subcontractors rose to the occasion.

Getting Creative

Communication is the key to any large project’s success. From the outset, Mason & Main benefited from regular stakeholder meetings occurring at every level, at which schedules, budget, and safety were reviewed, issues were identified, and creative solutions were hammered out. Over time, the job of responding to each new external challenge started to become a collective, group effort. Every team member started to think outside the box.

As supply chain issues threatened to bog down the schedule, we worked with our subcontractors to resequence the construction. Most buildings are finished top-to-bottom; our teams started in the middle floors and worked around the building, nimbly performing work wherever it was possible.

A Success by Any Measure

The resulting development gave Compass a few important milestones. At nine stories, Mason & Main is the tallest project in the company’s history. It was also the largest to date in financial terms with both buildings coming in at $127.3 million. Both phases were LEED Gold-Certified. And overall, the project came in on time and under budget.

But it’s what the buildings represent that’s most meaningful: that when we commit to a plan, we stick to it, even in the face of a pandemic and market volatility. Thanks to detail-obsessed planning, healthy teamwork, and innovative thinking, this is the promise we make to every client, big and small.