The old Liberty National building on 20th street between Third and Fourth avenues south has been sitting vacant since 2010. The 80-year-old structure is riddled with asbestos, and one of the walls had begun to buckle. Last year, bricks and debris began falling off the building and onto the sidewalk below.

The developers have that built up the area around it are planning to bring new life into the old building: the 16-story building has been purchased by a group that includes Scott Bryant of Scott M. Bryant & Co. and Dick Schmalz of RGS Properties, the pair that developed 20 Midtown.

"Given that the building has been vacant for several years, and a landmark location is situated on the fourth corner of the primary intersection of the 20 Midtown development, we think the project needs to be a part of 20 Midtown," Bryant told AL.com.

Plans for the Publix-anchored development at 3rd and 20th Streets south have, until now, consisted of three modern five-story buildings. The Starbucks-anchored building is complete, the Publix is nearing its opening while the building as a whole nears completion, and the third building is under construction. With the purchase of the Liberty National building, 20 Midtown will span 5.6 acres of downtown real estate.

The purchase of the Liberty National Building brings a new feel to the 20 Midtown development. At 16 stories, it's far taller than the other pieces, and the only historic building. But they're keeping mum on what the plans are for the building for now, and say they expect to announce uses for the building in late spring or early summer.

The team closed on the building in late December. They bought it for approximately $3.6 million from Pembroke Academy Investments LLC. The redevelopment will be an undertaking, but Bryant said the proximity to 20 Midtown will allow the developers to pool resources and share things like parking.

"We think we have a unique opportunity given the existing 20 Midtown development and assemblages in the market that will provide for shared uses and facilities," Bryant said.

The first step after closing on the building has been to identify the extent of the asbestos problem through sampling.

"After extensive study and investigations, we've determined that the cost will be in excess of $10 million to be able to eliminate the asbestos problem," Schmalz said.

The 10-story portion of the property that fronts 20th Street was built in the 1920s. A 31-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty once topped the building, before it was moved to Liberty Park off Interstate 459 in Vestavia Hills.

Liberty National moved from the downtown Birmingham building to an office in Hoover in 2010 and it's been vacant ever since.

In 2010, Corporate Realty Development announced plans to buy the building and demolish it and replace it with a 400,000-square-foot office tower of around 12 stories. The company needed to secure a commitment for a major corporate tenant before moving forward, and the deal never came to fruition.

Schmalz and Bryant have been working on developing parts of the properties for more than a decade. Bryant bought the former Firestone site in 2003. Even before the Liberty National building, 20 Midtown had grown to about a third larger than they had originally planned.

"There may be more growth to come," Schmalz said.