City Federal Building (Birmingham, Alabama)

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The City Federal Building is a 325-ft (99 m) 27-storey neo-classical skyscraper in Downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The building was designed by William Weston and was constructed in 1913 as the Corner Building. It was the tallest building in Alabama until Mobile's AmSouth Bank Building was built in 1969. It was surpassed as the tallest building in Birmingham until 1972 when the AmSouth-Sonat Tower was completed. It remains the tallest neo-classical skyscraper in the south. The building had two other names, the Age Herald Building and the Jefferson County Savings Bank Building before it was given its current name in 1962, when new landmark neon signs were installed on the roof and down the southeast corner of the building. In 1964, WSGN-AM constructed a penthouse studio on the top floorof the tower. The building was vacated in 1994. A 1996 proposal to convert the building into 148 apartments under the Renaissance Apartments name was unsuccessful. By the early 2000s, the building's terra cotta facade had deterorated to the point where the city labelled it as a safety hazard and constructed sidewalk protection. Synergy Realty Service purchased the building in March 2005 and began a $20,000,000 renovation to convert the City Federal Building into 84 condominiums. The neon sign was kept as a landmark, being refurbished and relit in December 2005. The conversion was finished in December 2007 and was developed by Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds.

The City Federal Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.