The Greensburg Community Development Corporation is giving two local organizations $20,000 each to support renovations of two city buildings.

McDowell Associates Insurance and the Westmoreland Bar Association both recently restored vacant buildings to be their new headquarters.

They are the second and third recipients of the corporation’s “G-Fund” grant program, which launched last year to incentivize development in the city.

“Projects such as these will have a lasting impact in our community and we thank the Westmoreland Bar Association and McDowell Associates for their investment in the City of Greensburg,” development corporation Executive Director Ashley Kertes said in a statement.

Representatives from both McDowell Associates and the bar association said they wanted to be part of revitalizing the city.

“We wanted to move back into the city proper, and we wanted to be downtown,” said Brad Roth, partner with McDowell Associates. “There’s a lot going on downtown, and we wanted to be a part of it.”

The firm in October moved from its headquarters on Tower Way, on the outskirts of the city, to 327 W. Pittsburgh St.

The renovation cost about $500,000, according to Roth. Constructed in the early 1900s, the West Pittsburgh Street building most recently housed a doctor’s office. It has been vacant several years.

“Every nook and cranny of the building has been updated,” Roth said.

The G-Fund money will pay for further improvements, such as signage, roofing and facade renovation, Roth said.

The bar association last year moved from North Pennsylvania Avenue to a new headquarters in a previously vacant building at the corner of Maple and Otterman streets. Renovation cost an estimated $900,000.

Bar association President Scott Avolio said the nonprofit was willing to invest in the community, taking on a project that may not have been feasible for many for-profit corporations.

“We recognized that if not us, then who?” he said.

Avolio also serves on the development corporation board. He was not involved in the vote to grant money to the association, he said.

“It’s nice to take the opportunity to take a project that might not make the most sense economically… and redevelop, purpose and invest in a gateway project that I think makes the city look better.”

The grant money will be used for further upgrades to the building, such as improving the building’s courtyard and installing videoconferencing equipment, Avolio said.

The G-Fund is funded through a tax break program the city implemented in 2015. Developers who make major renovations to city properties can pay into the fund in exchange for a 10-year tax cut.

The development corporation issued the first G-Fund grant in October, giving $15,000 to City Cribs LLC for renovations made to 136 S. Pennsylvania Ave., a long-vacant building transformed into apartments and retail space.

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