Louis Kamper designed 5 buildings in downtown Detroit for the Book family, including the Book Tower. 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 (designed to be the world's tallest building) was planned to be built at the opposite end of the Book Building, but was canceled during the
Great Depression. 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 those plans 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, based in nearby
Clinton Township, 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, AKNO Enterprises filed a tax abatement for a future renovation of the building. Specific plans were not disclosed.
Renovation and modern use In August 2015,
Bedrock Detroit, owned by
Dan Gilbert, purchased Book Tower for a reported $30 million, and soon began an extensive restoration and renovation project. Tours were given in 2019 and 2021 during the restoration, showing the progress of the project, and construction on the project was completed in 2022. ODA Architecture led the restoration designs. The restoration took seven years to complete and cost more than $300 million, and transformed Book Tower into a mixed-used building containing 229 rental apartments, a 117-room ROOST
apartment hotel, commercial offices, and event space, with retail, bars and restaurants at ground level. The restoration of Book Tower is one of the largest
adaptive reuse projects in Michigan.
Architectural Digest named Book Tower one of “The World’s 11 Most Beautiful Repurposed Buildings” in May 2023. == Architecture ==