Forest Park City Council has authorized unanimously the hiring of Kentainer Demolition Group to demolish two outdated office buildings along .

The demolition contract will be issued for the city-owned 640 and 660 Northland buildings as part of the city's 10-year, $15 million-$20 million corridor redevelopment plan.

The city explored the possibility of rehabilitating the Class B buildings - and was even in talks with a couple of tenants - but found that the costs would be too high for the product they were seeking.

Kentainer, which is currently demolishing the vacant Kmart on Hamilton Avenue and previously demolished the 680 Northland building, submitted the lowest written quote with a bid of approximately $28,000 for both buildings.

As the next lowest quote was for nearly $70,000, the city decided to forego the traditional bidding process to save additional time and money.

No building plans or tenants have been announced for the sites.

The goal of the Northland Boulevard corridor plan is to turn the dated strip into a place that is attractive, contemporary, and composed of mixed uses.

Next to 640 and 660 Northland, the demolition site at 680 Northland will allow for business district parking and will provide space for a future expansion of the Parkdale post office.

On the south side of the street, plans are in the works to build a mixed-use center with a regional homeland security center, a regional business incubator, and a Job Ready Site – possibly for a $2 million medical services facility.

The entire project would be tied together with a new streetscape and new gateway businesses at each end.

Previous reading on BC:
Lack of funding may alter Northland plans (3/14/08)