A Washington County firm's proposed redevelopment of Forbes Avenue Downtown is off to an early start, but not by design.

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority is spending $50,000 to demolish two buildings at 238 and 240 Forbes after the back wall of the latter structure failed about two weeks ago, causing the roof to collapse.

As part of an inspection in the aftermath of the trouble, city officials determined that the building at 238 Forbes also needed to be demolished.

The URA asked the city's Bureau of Building Inspection to make the inspections and to arrange for the demolition, which began last week. The authority will reimburse the bureau the $50,000 it is spending to raze the buildings.

"This was a necessity because of the safety concerns," URA general counsel Don Kortlandt said.

Both structures are among 20 properties held by the URA Downtown, mostly in the Fifth and Forbes corridor. The two buildings likely would have been demolished as part of a plan by Millcraft Industries Inc. of Washington County to redevelop city-owned properties in the area.

Millcraft is proposing a $50 million project on Forbes that would feature 150 to 200 apartments and condos and 20,000 square feet of store space. Design and construction are expected to take 30 months.

"I think we all expected the properties on the south of Forbes to be removed before development," Mr. Kortlandt said.

The URA and Millcraft currently are negotiating an agreement that would give the developer exclusive control over the city-owned properties for at least a year, with options for more time.

As part of the deal, they are expected to set up an appraisal process to determine the fair market value of properties the URA has paid $13.8 million for over the last seven years.

Mr. Kortlandt said the demolitions may actually increase the value of the properties at 238 and 240 Forbes. That could affect the sales price to Millcraft, he said, though he expected any increase resulting from the demolitions to be "relatively immaterial."

Once the buildings have been torn down and the rubble removed, the properties will be brought up to grade, leveled off, and fenced while awaiting redevelopment.

The Forbes Avenue project is part of $71 million in redevelopment proposed for the Fifth and Forbes corridor by Millcraft and partner Ira Morgan. Also planned is a $21 million transformation of the old G.C. Murphy's store into 50 apartments and condos and 25,000 square feet of retail. Millcraft also is converting the former Lazarus-Macy's department store into residential, office and retail uses at a cost of $59 million.

At the same time, some adjacent property owners are looking to piggyback on those developments and the new $170 million office tower being built by PNC Financial Services Group on the north side of Fifth Avenue.

Real estate brokers working with Millcraft said yesterday during an International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Pittsburgh that they have received calls from a number of adjacent property owners looking for information or interested in possible joint ventures or partnerships with Millcraft or even selling their property.

Others are considering new facades or renovating store interiors.

"I think it's going to be a domino effect," said Kevin Langholz, president of Langholz Wilson Ellis Inc.

Herky Pollock, executive vice president of CB Richard Ellis in Pittsburgh, said the ultimate goal is to have a mix of local, regional and national retailers operating Downtown.

"There's been lots of interest by property owners and retailers who share our vision, who want to be part of the vision, who want to work collaboratively as opposed to being on the outside looking in," he said.