The city of Wilmington reissued a request for proposals on Thursday for the demolition of its downtown offices at 305 Chestnut St. 

The newly advertised request for proposals (RFP) also includes the demolition of another city-owned office space at 315 Chestnut St. City officials first advertised a bid for the demolition of the city-owned building near the corner of North Third and Chestnut streets in mid-May before postponing the process a week later.

While the general concept of both requests is the same, the updated RFP allows the city to evaluate proposals on “expertise and experience as well as price given the complexities of the project, which include site layout, proximity to Third Street and the city’s desire to remove the basement structure under the 2-story building adjacent to Third Street,” a city spokesperson wrote on Thursday in an email to the Business Journal. 

“The City paused the previous procurement effort to allow for the development of an engineered stabilization plan for Third Street which is to be implemented before the removal of the basement,” the spokesperson added.

A more than 1,000-page request for proposals issued Thursday outlines the demolition work, environmental assessments and the site's history.

The scope of work includes removing the office buildings at 305 Chestnut St. and the single-story building at 315 Chestnut St. The 315 Chestnut St. demolition was included as an "alternate addition," the spokesperson wrote, "in the event the city vacates the space in time for that work to be accomplished in parallel with the work at 305 Chestnut Street."

According to the request for proposals, contractors will also be responsible for abating asbestos found inside the 305 Chestnut St. structure.

The period to submit bids closes on Aug. 29 at 3 p.m., according to the city's website, and interested parties must attend an on-site walkthrough of the proposed demolition to better understand the nature of the work on Aug. 8 at 9 a.m.

The properties at 305 and 315 Chestnut St. are among the nine properties in and around downtown that the Wilmington City Council declared surplus last year in anticipation of the city’s $68 million purchase of the former PPD headquarters at 929 N. Front St., which closed last July. Wilmington leaders aim to use sale proceeds from surplus properties to offset the purchase cost of the new campus.

The initial decision to demolish the buildings at 305 Chestnut St. was based on a market analysis that showed “no interest in reusing the existing structure, which is old and would require substantial repair,” a city spokesperson told the Business Journal in May.

The site at 305 Chestnut St. is home to two office buildings connected by a breezeway. The two-story building nearest North Third Street was constructed in 1959 and has an area of approximately 10,250 square feet. The five-story office building along Chestnut Street has approximately 37,500 square feet and was built in 1987.

The city of Wilmington acquired the property, which formerly operated as a bank, in 1997 for $4.5 million, according to property records. The total appraised tax value of the site is approximately $7.5 million, with a land valuation of $1.5 million and a building valuation of nearly $6 million.

The building at 315 Chestnut St. has just over 3,000 square feet, according to the request for proposals. The city purchased the building, which today has a tax appraisal of $380,000, in 1999 for $461,500, property records show.