DOVER — City Council hopes to award a contract of $46,400 to Dependable Construction of Delaware to demolish 105, 111, and 115 on South New Street during tonight’s meeting.
The properties were previously owned by the House of Pride, which is a nonprofit organization that provides drug and alcohol addiction counseling and transitional housing for troubled men.
Last year House of Pride signed a contract for the transfer of four properties from the nonprofit to the city.
The properties are located at 105, 106, 110 and 115 South New Street in Dover. Two of the parcels have structures on them (105 and 115) and the other two are vacant lots.
The Downtown Dover Partnership purchased 111 South New Street, which is situated between the two properties purchased by the City of Dover.
The properties have been the location of various nuisance activities and have drawn a disproportionate amount of police responses.
The two houses, one that serves as the main office for House of Pride at 105 S. New St., and the other an apartment building with four units at 115 S. New St., have an assessed value of about $237,000.
Marion Lott, executive director of House of Pride in an interview from last year, said the deal to transfer some properties to the city of Dover will put the organization on a more solid financial footing.
The Department of Planning and Inspections has bid the demolition work for the properties together, requesting that the responsive bidders break out the costs by properties.
By bidding the properties together as a package, the city was able to obtain more favorable bids due to the adjacency of the three properties to each other, said Anne Marie Townshend, the city’s director of planning and community development.
Seven companies submitted bids. All of the bids were complete and the potential vendors were deemed to be capable and competent; therefore, pricing was the determining factor in bid award.
The city recommended that the contract be awarded to the lowest bidder, which was Dependable Construction of Delaware.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.