Viking Circle Apartments (Lark Bellingham)

Viking Circle Apartments, now operating as Lark Bellingham, is a $32 million student housing development on a fully fenced, access-controlled 15.25-acre site in Bellingham. The development comprises 13 buildings: twelve four-story wood-framed walk-up apartment buildings with 249 two- and three-bedroom units totaling 649 bedrooms, each with its own private bathroom, plus a three-story clubhouse with extensive amenity spaces. Residents enjoy a 24-hour fitness center, meditation room, outdoor lounge with fire pits, sand volleyball courts, ping pong tables, study lounges, business centers, and cafe facilities. Lark Bellingham gives WWU students a purpose-built living community within walking distance of campus.

During preconstruction, Dawson collaborated with the owner and architect to find $4 million in cost savings through creative value engineering, which was reinvested into the project by reviewing material selections, enhancing constructability, and adding an additional building while optimizing the site layout to better fit existing conditions. The site incorporates a wetland and creek buffer, requiring that all work within the buffer be completed in compliance with Department of Fisheries fish buffer requirements.

The results were remarkable: the facility was completed and opened to students an entire school season earlier than originally expected, giving the developer a full year of additional revenue. The construction manager specifically cited Dawson's transparency and documentation detail as standout qualities, noting the team's exemplary leadership in overcoming the budget deficit through creative preconstruction collaboration.