Greensburg Community Development Corporation introduces grant program 5 years in the making

The Greensburg Community Development Corporation is rolling out a new grant initiative it hopes will spur more development projects in the city.

The corporation this summer awarded a $15,000 G-Fund grant to City Cribs LLC for renovations made to 136 S. Pennsylvania Ave. It was the first G-Fund grant, and it won’t be the last, said Ashley Kertes, executive director of GCDC.

“We really want to give developers incentive to come to Greensburg,” she said.

Money for the G-Fund grant program comes from a tax-break initiative implemented in 2015.

Developers who make substantial improvements to dilapidated commercial or industrial properties in Greensburg get a 10-year property tax break. They get a 25% tax break, with 10% of what they pay going to the city and 65% into the G-Fund.

The fund was announced when the tax break program started, but it took several years to build up enough money to begin issuing grants. GCDC formally announced the start of the grant program in November.

There is about $33,000 in the fund account now, according to Kertes. Three local properties have received tax breaks and are paying into the fund: Delta 9 medical marijuana dispensary on East Pittsburgh Street, an apartment complex at 112 College Ave., and Beeghly & Co. Jewelers on South Main Street.

Developers can apply for a G-Fund grant of up to $25,000. GCDC is looking to award projects that bring jobs, taxes, historic preservation and economic development to the city.

“We kept the guidelines pretty broad … because we didn’t know what kind of projects were going to be happening in the city,” Kertes said.

Projects that are eligible to receive a tax break and pay into the fund may also be eligible to receive grants from the fund, she said.

One other eligible project has applied for a grant, which will likely be awarded this year, Kertes said.