D.C. firm preparing to take on downtown apartment redevelopment in building buy from Mark Cuban

PITTSBURGH — When it comes to dealing with one of the biggest barriers to redeveloping a more than 100-year-old former PPG warehouse on the Allegheny riverfront, Norman Jemal sees no reason to let them get in the way.

That would be the large number of columns within the nine-story, 162,000-square-foot building at 642 Fort Duquesne Blvd. that Jemal’s Washington, D.C.-based Douglas Development Corp. has under agreement to buy from Dallas Mavericks owner and Mount Lebanon native Mark Cuban.

“The columns are the columns. We’re embracing them,” Jemal said. “We think they’re really cool architecturally.”

Those columns, often viewed by close observers as a major hindrance for the way they break up so much of the space in the building, proved to be just one architectural feature that attracted the attention of Jemal and Douglas. Others include the heavy concrete structure and ceilings that often reach more than 15 feet high, providing ample room in which to build out mezzanine levels for apartment units. And then there is the location, overlooking the Allegheny River.

Read more in the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Local woman almost falls victim to Amazon scam; what you need to know