Book Tower

Book Tower is a 145 m (476 ft), 38-story skyscraper located at 1265 Washington Boulevard in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Washington Boulevard Historic District. Construction began on the Italian Renaissance-style building in 1916, as an addition to the original Book Building, and finished a decade later, making it, at the time, the tallest building in Detroit. The building was designed by architect Louis Kamper, an American architect, active in and around Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan.

It has a green copper roof, a roofing style shared by the nearby Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Retail and art galleries once resided on the first and second levels, with businesses previously occupying the upper levels. The last tenant closed in 2009, at which time Book Tower sat vacant until it was acquired by Bedrock in 2015. Over the next seven years, a Bedrock-led extensive restoration project culminated in a fully revitalized residential, ROOST apartment/hotel, event venue and mixed-use space.

History

Named for the famous Book Brothers of Detroit who owned much of the property on Washington Boulevard, it was briefly the tallest building in the city from 1926 until the completion of the Penobscot Building in 1928. A taller Book Tower of 81 stories was to be built at the opposite end of the Book Building, but the Great Depression cancelled those plans. The building contains a cartouche by the Detroit architectural sculptor Corrado Parducci.

From its opening through the mid-1970s, the Book Tower remained a prestigious address on Washington Boulevard. Like many structures in the city, its fortunes declined until 1988 when the owners defaulted on the mortgage. In 1989, Travelers Insurance, the principal mortgage-holder, took possession and sold the building to developer John Lambrecht, who had previously purchased and renovated the Cadillac Tower a few blocks east. Lambrecht had similar plans for the Book Building and Tower. His untimely death later that year brought things to a halt.

Lambrecht's widow attempted to manage the property and made some improvements, but she was unable to maintain momentum. In July 2006, she sold the Book Tower to the Pagan Organization, a New York-based investment group. Pagan's plans were for a renovation and conversion of both the Book Tower and Book building into a mix of retail, residential, and office units. The Pagan Organization created the Northeast Commercial Services Corp. to manage the building. Northeast Commercial Services Corp. filed for Chapter 11 protection in May 2007, after defaulting on its mortgage loan. The last tenant, Bookie's Tavern, closed in January 2009, and moved to a new location downtown, leaving the entire building vacant.

In November 2009, Key Investment Group of Clinton Township, Michigan announced intentions to buy and renovate the building as a mixed-use development with high rise residential units, office space, and retail. Weeks earlier, the investors revealed that they were looking to purchase the building from AKNO Enterprises of Vancouver for a green renovation. In January 2010, Rosemarie Dobek, CFO of Key Investment Group, reported that the group was pursuing plans for a US$320 million green renovation to include the Book Tower and four other Detroit buildings.

In August 2013, Book Tower owner ANKO Enterprises of Vancouver, British Columbia, filed a tax abatement for a future renovation of the building. Specific plans were not disclosed.

In August 2015, Bedrock, owned by Dan Gilbert, purchased the Book Tower for a reported $30 million.

Renovation and modern use

Following Bedrock’s acquisition, the company spent seven years and nearly $400 million on the historic renovation and restoration, transforming it into residential, ROOST apartment/hotel, an event venue, and mixed-use space including office, retail, and bars and restaurants. Tours were given in 2019 and 2021 showing the progress of the project, with its extensive renovation completing in 2022. It is one of the largest adaptive reuse projects in Michigan.

The rehabilitated Book Tower currently boasts a three-story art glass rotunda within the building’s grand entryway, adorned with more than 6,000 glass panels and 7,000 jewel embellishments, along with intricate, hand-painted plaster ceilings, doors and flourishes throughout the building. Its fully restored exterior features 2,483 windows refurbished for optimal energy efficiency, as well as 29 caryatids across the building’s revitalized façade.

Today, the modernized Book Tower consists of 229 renovated residential apartments spread across 28 floors and 46 different floorplans, 117 uniquely designed ROOST apartment/hotel suites and 52,000 square feet of retail, office, bars and restaurants – including an upscale event space with a skylit ballroom.

In May 2023, Book Tower was named one “The World’s 11 Most Beautiful Repurposed Buildings” by Architectural Digest.

ROOST Detroit opened on June 1, 2023, with 117 furnished studio, one and two-bedroom apartment hotel rooms.

Criticism

Kamper's Book Tower was critiqued for not including an internal fire escape route, necessitating a strange exterior fire escape, possibly the tallest fire escape at the time. He was also critiqued for choosing an absorbent limestone that sucked in the pollution of the contemporary factories' smoke.

Nowadays, the building is generally praised is being unique and beautiful in proportion and design.

Gallery

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Detroit

References

Further reading

• Hill, Eric J. & John Gallagher (2003). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0814331200.
• Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Architectural Sculpture of America, unpublished manuscript
• Meyer, Katherine Mattingly & Martin C.P. McElroy (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide. Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (Revised ed.). Wayne State University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0814316511.
• Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0814332702.
• Savage, Rebecca Binno & Greg Kowalski (2004). Art Deco in Detroit (Images of America). Arcadia. ISBN 978-0738532288.

External links

• Book Tower official website
• Book Tower Residences official website
• ROOST Detroit at Book Tower official website
• Historic Detroit — Book Tower
• Green Renovation Article