The city spent $195,476 to demolish a series of fire damaged building in its fight against neighborhood blight, according to municipal records.
Nine demolitions were conducted by three firms. 7 of those demolitions were done by East Hanover-based Caravella Demolition Inc., according to city records.
Caravella received $139,365 for the demolitions. The firm submitted the lowest price for each the jobs. The company demolished:
- 6-34 Piercy Street, a small garage, for $7,800
- 17 Bergen Street for $18,804
- 230-232 Summer Street for $21,230
- 51 Bergen Street for $28,281
- 580 East 23rd Street for $21,500
- 215 Rosa Parks Boulevard for $24,900
- 36 Auburn Street for $16,850.
Totowa-based Two Brothers Contracting, Inc. demolished 68 Pearl Street for $17,111, according to city records.
Haledon-based Super LLC. demolished 20 Seeley Street for $39,000, according to municipal records.
Residential demolitions were covered using grant funds from federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and commercial using a zero-interest loan the city secured through the state, according to economic development director Ruben Gomez.
Municipal officials have earmarked funds to create an in-house demolition program to avoid paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to outside firms. $731,000 in federal grant funds have been earmarked for the project.
The city’s aggressive effort to combat blight was met with praise from Moody’s Investor Services earlier in the year. The credit rating agency citing the effort to revise the city’s credit outlook from negative to stable.
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