DEVELOPING SITUATION
Mark Cuban’s Downtown riverfront building may be close to changing hands
It has been more than a year since billionaire Mark Cuban put a former PPG glass warehouse overlooking the Allegheny River in Downtown up for sale. He finally appears to be close to cashing in.
Douglas Development Corporation, a prominent Washington, D.C., developer, has the nine-story building at 640-642 Fort Duquesne Boulevard under agreement to be purchased, an official with the firm confirmed Monday.
The company hopes to close on the transaction in the next 90 days, said Norman Jemal, Douglas Development managing principal.
Mr. Cuban, “Shark Tank” star and owner of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks, hired the CBRE real estate firm last year to sell the property. He decided to do so after he was unable to reach a deal with The Davis Companies of Boston on the sale of the building.
Mr. Cuban, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon, declined comment in an email when asked about a possible sale to Douglas Development.
The Washington, D.C., firm is proposing to convert the building into about 140 loft-style apartments featuring high ceilings and large windows to take advantage of the views, Mr. Jemal said. It is planning a mix of one- and twobedroom units.
“Pittsburgh is a great city, rich in history and with a very bright future ahead of it,” he said. “The bones of the building are spectacular and the views of the water are really impressive,” he said. “We think it’s a great place to live and offers us a great opportunity,”
He declined to give the purchase price and said the amount the firm plans to invest in the rehab is “still fluid.”
Mr. Jemal recalled becoming interested in the building when someone showed it to him. “It was something we felt good about really quickly,” he said.
Douglas Development has been a big player in the nation’s capital for decades.
It redeveloped the historic Woodward and Lothrop Building near Washington’s Metro Center and has been involved in projects near the Capital One Arena and at the former Uline Arena, where the Beatles performed their first American concert.
Overall, its current portfolio includes more than 10 million leasable square footage with more than 5 million square feet of developable real estate in the pipeline, according to its website.
While most of its work has been concentrated in Washington, suburban Virginia and Maryland, it has been expanding into New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In Pittsburgh, it is involved in litigation over Downtown’s Centre City Tower, where owner King Penguin Opportunity Fund defaulted on a $16.4 million mortgage last year.
Douglas Development is the current holder of the note and is seeking to foreclose on the 26-story office building and take possession of the property.
If it does so, it intends to “do some upgrades to the building” and “just create a great office environment for people,” Mr. Jemal said.
“It’s in need of some help,” he stated.
On Fort Duquesne Boulevard, Mr. Cuban’s property offers the company an opportunity to start fresh.
The building, constructed in 1917 and renovated in 1987, was last occupied by the Easter Seals of Pennsylvania but has been vacant for more than a decade. Most of the interior has been gutted, leaving columns and a shell. The 168,000-square-foot building also is strong enough to support a three- to fivestory addition on top of it.
In its marketing, CBRE has touted the building’s waterfront location and its proximity to the Downtown cultural district, the North Shore and PNC Park, which is a short walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge.
Five years ago, Mr. Cuban, a Mt. Lebanon High School graduate, partnered with Shadyside developer Walnut Capital on a $30 million plan to convert the building into 76 apartments and offices, possibly involving coworking space. There also were plans for a restaurant and meeting rooms at street level as well as a green roof with a deck. But the project never got off the ground.
Mr. Cuban has owned the property since 2006, when he paid $6.85 million for it.
The building would be the first asset Douglas Development would own in Pittsburgh. The company is interested in doing more here, Mr. Jemal said.
“We certainly are looking for other opportunities and would like to grow our footprint in that market,” he said.
In Washington, it has developed a reputation for rehabbing older underutilized or historic structures.
“We definitely have carved a niche for ourselves in doing historic renovations and repurposing what are great buildings but functionally obsolete,” he said.
Douglas Development was founded and is still headed by Mr. Jemal’s father, Douglas Jemal.
Besides his development work, the cowboy bootwearing Douglas Jemal is known for his collection of old license plates, antique glass medicine bottles and a pet African gray parrot with a penchant for salty language. He made news in January when he was pardoned by former President Donald Trump, clearing him of a 2006 wire fraud conviction.
According to the Washington Post, the conviction stemmed from Douglas Jemal’s efforts to influence a D.C. official for government leases.
He was acquitted of six of the seven charges brought against him, including conspiracy, bribery and tax evasion, and admitted no wrongdoing. He received probation and was ordered to pay a $175,000 fine. Norman Jemal, who was charged with the same offenses, was acquitted on all of them.
Douglas Jemal, the Post reported, is close to the family of Jared Kushner, a top adviser to Mr. Trump who is married to Ivanka Trump.
At the time of the pardon, Douglas Jemal told the Post he had not spoken to Mr. Trump about it but was glad it was granted.