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{{Short description|Skyscraper in Detroit, US}}{{About||the tower in Ghent (Belgium) housing the library of Ghent University|Boekentoren|the British children's television series|The Book Tower}}{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

factoids

| start_date = 1916| completion_date = 1926| building_type = Commercial offices144.78abbr=on}}122ft|abbr=on}}152ft|abbr=on}}| floor_count = 382 below ground| elevator_count = | cost = | floor_area = 483,973 sf| architect = Louis Kamper| structural_engineer = | main_contractor = Starrett-Dilks Company| developer = | management = | owner = Bedrock Detroit| ren_firm = Bedrock Detroit| renovation_date = | ren_architect = | ren_contractor = Christman| nrhp =

factoids

10575}}HTTPS://WWW.EMPORIS.COM/BUILDINGS/118554/BOOK-TOWER-DETROIT-MI-USA >ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20200717080109/HTTPS://WWW.EMPORIS.COM/BUILDINGS/118554/BOOK-TOWER-DETROIT-MI-USA ARCHIVE-DATE=2020-07-17 WORK=EMPORIS, {{SkyscraperPage20027663}}}}Book Tower is a {{convert|145|m|abbr=on}}, 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 gallery floors used to reside on the first and second floors, with businesses previously occupying the rest. 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

(File:Book Tower, Detroit, Mich (NYPL b12647398-74644).tiff|thumb|upright|left|A 1920s postcard depicting the Book Tower)Named after the famous Book Brothers of Detroit, 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.WEB, Unbuilt Detroit,weblink Critical Detroit, 3 October 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20091113014435weblink">weblink 13 November 2009, 18 January 2016, live, The building contains a cartouche by the Detroit architectural sculptor Corrado Parducci.WEB, 2005-12-07, Photo Du Jour – December 7, 2005 – Book Tower Front Door – International Metropolis,weblink 2023-06-08, en-US, 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.WEB, Book Tower and Book Building,weblink Buildings of Detroit, 2011-04-12, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110103190418weblink">weblink January 3, 2011, 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.WEB, Book Building,weblink Detroit1701, 17 January 2009, 2011-04-12, 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.NEWS, New Book for an old chapter, Crain Communications, Crain's Detroit Business,weblink Daniel, Duggan, 6 November 2009, 2010-11-20, 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.NEWS,weblink Book Building and Tower to be brought back to life, Model D, Kelli B., Kavanaugh, 3 November 2009, 2010-11-20, WEB, New Hope for the Book Tower,weblink Critical Detroit, 20 January 2010, 2014-04-11,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101120163531weblink">weblink 20 November 2010, dead, 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.WEB, Cox, Sarah, August 5, 2013,weblink Evidence Suggests That Book Tower Might, Finally, Renovate, Curbed Detroit, 2014-04-11, In August 2015, Bedrock, owned by Dan Gilbert, announced it would purchase Book Tower.

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,NEWS, Walker, Micah, 7 September 2019, Book Tower renovation tour in Detroit gives guests look behind the scenes, Detroit Free Press,weblink 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.WEB, Collins, Charlotte, 2023-05-04, The World's 11 Most Beautiful Repurposed Buildings,weblink 2023-06-07, Architectural Digest, en-US, ROOST Detroit opened on June 1, 2023, with 117 furnished studio, one and two-bedroom apartment hotel rooms.WEB,weblink Book Tower Set to Welcome Guests with Opening of ROOST Apartment Hotel and the Unveiling of Anthology Events,

Gallery

File:Downtown, Detroit, MI, USA - panoramio (6).jpg|File:BookTowerCaryatids.jpg|Caryatids by an unknown sculptorFile:Booktowerdetroit.JPG|The tower from Woodward AvenueFile:DPM Times Square.jpg|The Detroit People Mover approaching Book Tower

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Detroit

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

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

External links

{{commons category|Book Tower, Detroit}}

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

{{Downtown Detroit}}{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan}}{{Buildings in Michigan timeline}}{{Architecture of metropolitan Detroit}}