Leechburg's former First Commonwealth Bank to become business hub

The ornate building that formerly housed First Commonwealth Bank in Leechburg soon will become a co-working space and business center for area entrepreneurs and individuals who work from home.

There are hopes the building, which includes several private offices as well as conference rooms and open tables for collaborative work, will become an asset that inspires more businesses to set up shop in the borough.

That’s according to Lou Phillips, a member of the Leechburg Area Community Development Corporation, a new nonprofit that recently acquired the building through a donation.

The group organized in 2019 with the goal of stimulating the Leechburg area “so that it can reach its greatest potential,” according to its website, which launched this week. Board members include Leechburg Mayor Wayne Dobos, Leechburg Area School District Superintendent Tiffany Nix and several others with ties to the community. The organization has seven committees focused on topics such as real estate, parks and recreation, business and industry, and other social and economic categories.

Phillips, a Leechburg native, sees the group’s priority as finding a future for the borough. In 1950, it had about 5,000 residents. Today, its population is down to about 2,000 and its days as a canal, steel and coal town are long gone.

“What’s Leechburg going to be?” he said. “The mission of the community development corporation is to help Leechburg find its way to its new identity, whatever that’s going to be.”

The idea for a co-working space came in 2019 as a way to attract more people who might otherwise live in Pittsburgh, including those who need to commute to the city only a couple of days a week or entrepreneurs without a physical shop or office. The covid-19 pandemic and widespread work-from-home trends only solidified the idea, Phillips said. Now, many companies are realizing the benefits of work-from-home options, and some might continue allowing it after the pandemic is over.

The hope is that the space will have a broader impact of supporting Leechburg businesses, in general.

“A co-working space is, hopefully, a bit of an attraction to people who might want to come and live in Leechburg, for people who live in Leechburg and are frustrated by the commute and for those who are frustrated by working at home,” Phillips said.

Phillips said the development group visited several venues in the area before the bank announced in August 2020 it would be closing the Leechburg branch. The group approached First Commonwealth to see if it might consider donating the building. The deal closed March 11.

“We’re still part of the community,” said Jonathan Longwill, vice president of communications at First Commonwealth. “Technically, you cross the river, it’s a different county, it’s a different municipality. But this area is a community, and we still are invested in the community and want to be a part of it.”

This isn’t the first community collaboration in which First Commonwealth has donated a building, Longwill said, citing a similar deal in McKeesport.

“If this partnership can help the community grow and sustain, bring new opportunities, we definitely look forward to working with them on that,” he said.

The bank left the majority of its furniture in the building, including desks, tables and chairs. There are a functioning stove and refrigerator on the top floor, and the development group is in the process of installing stronger internet infrastructure to the old building.

The group is considering certain renovations for the building, which was built in 1926 and once housed the Hicks Coal Co. Still, many of the bank’s features will remain in the co-working space as a reminder of the building’s history. In some rooms, there are giant safes built into the walls next to the desks.

“It’s really a historical landmark,” said Ron Walko, another board member of the development group.

In addition to the co-working space, the third floor will be marketed as a business center where individual offices can be rented out on a more semipermanent basis. The development group will use one of the offices as its own headquarters.

Phillips said the development group is marketing the building and locating people who might be interested in using the business center. He said it would be ideal for people who can work from home but are looking for a dedicated office space for focus or a place to meet clients. An official date for the building’s reopening has not been set.