Bessemer’s historic former City Hall is being eyed for a mixed-use development.

Wisconsin-based Scott Crawford Inc. is purchasing the former municipal building, vacant for the past two years, for $200,000 from the city. The property on Third Avenue North could become a $10 million, mixed use housing development with 60 units and about 4,000 square feet of retail space.

The project is being planned in partnership with Cardinal Capital Management Inc., Montgomery Martin Communications LLC and LifeTagger LLC.

Bessemer Mayor Kenneth Gulley said the city is "committed to revitalizing our downtown and this proposal aligns with our vision for the future of downtown Bessemer.”

The sale of the property is expected to close this fall, and the developers have a two-year timeline for the work, Toraine Norris, chief of staff to Gulley’s office, said. The developers are also looking at an adjoining piece of property for the project.

“We look forward to continuing our work with the City of Bessemer and our local partners to provide quality housing for the citizens in downtown Bessemer,” said Que El-Amin, Principal of Scott Crawford, Inc.

Norris said the developers began looking at Bessemer for the project following the announcement of a $325 million Amazon fulfillment center last year. The center, which broke ground last year, is not expected to launch until 2020. The proposed development is the first downtown residential project in the history of Bessemer and the product of a year of talks between Crawford and the city.

“People who work at Amazon are going to be looking for places to live,” Norris said. “So that’s one of the incentives. And you see around the country similar developments, where downtown properties are being repurposed.”

Local project partner Cheyjuan K. Martin, principal of Montgomery Martin Communications LLC, said Bessemer "has always been a second home to me and my family. It is a privilege and an honor to be part of the team bringing quality residential housing to downtown Bessemer.”

The old city hall, built in 1938, is also home to the old City Auditorium, which the city had been renting out for events.

A mail-bomb on May 2, 1979 exploded at the building, killing Bessemer Police Lt. Cliff Hill, and injuring at least three others, including Public Safety Commissioner Max Williams.