"You don't want people wandering around in buildings that you now own," Nilson said. The agency "thought it was important to get it demolished very quickly."
It took seven months from the time the development corporation obtained prices for the Maryland Chemical demolition to when P&J Contracting began knocking it down in April.
Clark said the Maryland Chemical building presented a safety concern. "A level lot with a permanent fence around it is a lot safer than a vacant building," Clark said.
P&J offered to do the work for $378,477. The company offered the lowest price of three that submitted estimates, according to documents reviewed by The Baltimore Sun.
David Berg, the head of one of the city's better-known demolition firms, the Berg Corp., was not asked to participate in the Maryland Chemical job.
"I would bid on any job, even a house," he said.
He was among a larger pool asked to seek the contract to knock down the warehouses, and offered the lowest price.
The development agency is currently evaluating five submissions, including Berg's, ranging from $266,930 to $379,885 to demolish the city-owned warehouses, according to a document reviewed by The Baltimore Sun. A $50 million garage to support the casino will be constructed there. The warehouses are still open and operating.
Jolivet has sued the city in the past over the way it awards contracts, and says the two demolition jobs are examples of the city's failing to follow its own rules. "If there is a culprit here it is the city, the Board of Estimates and the Baltimore Development Corp. They don't seem to have any respect for the charter," Jolivet said.
Jolivet pointed to Article VI, which requires contracts worth more than $25,000 to be advertised publicly.
Nilson, the city solicitor, said that a 1975 memorandum of understanding between the city and the development corporation includes the safety exemption. When the agency deems a building a threat to public safety, the agency obtains permission to award a contract from the head of the city's housing department, Nilson said.
Nilson said the public safety issues at the warehouses are "not as self-evident" as the potential threat presented by Maryland Chemical, but he noted that the process "has not moved to the final point."
