Book Building and Tower renovation

**kryptonite** · February-15-11, 07:54 AM

Wow, wouldn't you just love to tour those upper eight or so stories. I used to be in the arcade regularly when I worked downtown. It's impressive, although not as impressive as the Penobscot, Fisher, Guardian or Whitney buildings. Still, what I have seen of the Book Tower has been unquestionably worth salvaging. I haven't heard anything about the redevelopment plans that the Ferchill people were talking about two years ago. I would guess that there are still back-burner plans for it considering all the momentum going on Downtown and Midtown. The current economy no doubt has iced the plans, but in the even that the MI economy starts growing maybe the Book will become an active project again. Like a lot of old abandoned Detroit buildings, a buyer would get a lot of building for the money. But, then what does one do to fill it with tenants?

**Planner3357** · February-15-11, 09:06 AM

I do love the Book...in all its creepiness.

**Detroit500** · May-27-11, 02:38 PM

Well my guess is this project has gone the way of Cadillac Place...

**mikeg19** · May-28-11, 11:56 AM

Was walking down Washington after the Tigers game last night and noticed there were a few rooms at the top of the tower illuminated, as well as the some of the first floor. Anyone have any information as to why they would be on?

**ismoakrack** · May-28-11, 03:15 PM

They are always on.

**mikeg19** · June-12-11, 05:45 PM

I remember someone mentioning awhile ago that the Broderick was the 3rd tallest abandoned building in the United States. Where does the Book tower stand on that list? Is it the 2nd tallest?

**wolverine** · June-12-11, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

I remember someone mentioning awhile ago that the Broderick was the 3rd tallest abandoned building in the United States. Where does the Book tower stand on that list? Is it the 2nd tallest?

Tough to say. Vacant or abandoned? Randolph tower in Chicago was abandoned for sometime after a failed conversion to condos.

http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/...olph-Tower.php

It's 100 feet taller than the Broderick. Fortunately the project got funding and renovations have been progressing quickly. I'd love to get a place up in that tower. It has the same irregular shapes as the Broderick.

**Whitehouse** · June-12-11, 08:43 PM

I hope that's scaffolding on the side of that building instead of window frames....

**Richard** · June-12-11, 09:05 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

I hope that's scaffolding on the side of that building instead of window frames....

How would you like to be the one that gets to change the blinking light on top of the pole,looks like scaffolding even so way to high for me.

**wolverine** · June-12-11, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

I hope that's scaffolding on the side of that building instead of window frames....

LOL, no worries it's scaffolding.

**BrushStart** · June-12-11, 10:50 PM

I am confident that the Book will be renovated within the next 10 years, but probably much sooner. The residential occupancy rate of downtown buildings is through the roof right now. My building is consistently at or near 100% occupied. Many downtown buildings have wait lists extending months into the future. Rental rates are slowly creeping upward. It is actually astonishing that more development is not occurring. If I had some money or could put together an investment group, I'd be developing residential buildings like there were no tomorrow. The flow of businesses back to the CBD is becoming a regular occurrence, and I expect that trend to continue, if not scream forward in coming years. It's not unreasonable to think that people like me will be "priced out" of downtown within the next 20 years. Seem far fetched? I think it's safe to say that the train has already left the station.

**gthomas** · June-12-11, 11:27 PM

Amen brother! I agree with you, Im also surprise theres not a more foward move to bring residential projects downtown. All those vacant building for dirt cheap!? So much of my friends want to move downtown but they want more options..there is a huge demand out there! With knowing that more than 10,000 more office worker within 5 yrs will be added to downtown , why arent these residential project springing up?

Originally Posted by BrushStart

I am confident that the Book will be renovated within the next 10 years, but probably much sooner. The residential occupancy rate of downtown buildings is through the roof right now. My building is consistently at or near 100% occupied. Many downtown buildings have wait lists extending months into the future. Rental rates are slowly creeping upward. It is actually astonishing that more development is not occurring. If I had some money or could put together an investment group, I'd be developing residential buildings like there were no tomorrow. The flow of businesses back to the CBD is becoming a regular occurrence, and I expect that trend to continue, if not scream forward in coming years. It's not unreasonable to think that people like me will be "priced out" of downtown within the next 20 years. Seem far fetched? I think it's safe to say that the train has already left the station.

**gthomas** · June-12-11, 11:30 PM

Lets invest Brushstart!!!..Lets get a group started...lets take back our city block by block. We should invest..People need to be in control, not politics.

**rjlj** · June-12-11, 11:38 PM

Have you applied for a loan lately? Get the banks on your side and the demand may be fulfilled but until then speculators rule the game. Property is cheap,
re-development is not.

Originally Posted by gthomas

Amen brother! I agree with you, Im also surprise theres not a more foward move to bring residential projects downtown. All those vacant building for dirt cheap!? So much of my friends want to move downtown but they want more options..there is a huge demand out there! With knowing that more than 10,000 more office worker within 5 yrs will be added to downtown , why arent these residential project springing up?

**gthomas** · June-12-11, 11:44 PM

I said nothing about getting a loan? I was refering to putting our own money together, raise money some kind of way then maybe someone will lend if possible? Not politics...but people. If everyone in the city donate $10 we will be on the road...we will show banks that we dont need them, they cause debt to people lives.

Originally Posted by rjlj

Have you applied for a loan lately? Get the banks on your side and the demand may be fufiled but until then speculators rule the game. Property is cheap,
re-development is not.

DC48080 · June-13-11, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by gthomas

I said nothing about getting a loan? I was refering to putting our own money together, raise money some kind of way then maybe someone will lend if possible? Not politics...but people. If everyone in the city donate $10 we will be on the road...we will show banks that we dont need them, they cause debt to people lives.

As of the most recent census there are 713,777 folks left in the city. If each and every single one of them "donates" $10, as you propose, you will raise $7,137,770. In real world earth dollars 7.1 million does not pay for re-developing a building the size of the Book building.

It isn't politics, it is math. For a project like this you do need banks. Debt, if used properly, improves lives.

**Whitehouse** · June-13-11, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

I am confident that the Book will be renovated within the next 10 years, but probably much sooner. The residential occupancy rate of downtown buildings is through the roof right now. My building is consistently at or near 100% occupied.

Which building are you living in?

**BrushStart** · June-13-11, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by Whitehouse

Which building are you living in?

Whitehouse, I don't want to give the name in an attempt to preserve some level internet anonymity. However, I will tell you that it is one of downtown's larger apartment buildings. The building's website never has more than a handful of units available these days, which has changed from a few years ago.

**Whitehouse** · June-13-11, 08:25 AM

Fair enough.

**mikeg19** · June-13-11, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

I am confident that the Book will be renovated within the next 10 years, but probably much sooner. The residential occupancy rate of downtown buildings is through the roof right now. My building is consistently at or near 100% occupied. Many downtown buildings have wait lists extending months into the future. Rental rates are slowly creeping upward. It is actually astonishing that more development is not occurring. If I had some money or could put together an investment group, I'd be developing residential buildings like there were no tomorrow. The flow of businesses back to the CBD is becoming a regular occurrence, and I expect that trend to continue, if not scream forward in coming years. It's not unreasonable to think that people like me will be "priced out" of downtown within the next 20 years. Seem far fetched? I think it's safe to say that the train has already left the station.

There are several things in this statement that I want to know:

1. Why the Hell aren't banks, financial institutions seeing the potential in these buildings downtown to house this next generation of younger, tech savvy worker that wanna live in a city center, and make it a bit easier to float the loans for these redevelopments?

2. Is Snyder's proclamation that the tax credits that many of these developments use [[Broderick, Whitney) will either be slashed or eliminated scaring off potential investors or banks to get these projects started?

3. Are the prices being asked to live in downtown not "fair" enough to draw in more people thus driving up the demand? Considering a young professional such as myself doesn't want to pay $1200 a month plus all my other expenses just to live downtown. It needs to be reasonable.

4. What ever happened to the Key Group in regards to the planned renovation, greening of the Book building/Tower? Their website says nothing.

5. Can we all live in imagination land for 10 seconds and imagine the Ponchatrain, Book Tower, Broderick, Whitney, UA Theatre, Stott Tower, and all of Merchants Row packed with residential/commercial space at 95% occupancy? I honestly don't think that dream is too far off at this point, which would have seemed insane to merely suggest that 18 months ago.

**cmubryan** · June-13-11, 09:45 PM

Originally Posted by wolverine

Tough to say. Vacant or abandoned? Randolph tower in Chicago was abandoned for sometime after a failed conversion to condos.

http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/...olph-Tower.php

It's 100 feet taller than the Broderick. Fortunately the project got funding and renovations have been progressing quickly. I'd love to get a place up in that tower. It has the same irregular shapes as the Broderick.

My former company Village Green is converting this building into luxury apartments. I remember we were close to closing back in October of 2008 and then the crash...

It finally closed, thank goodness a few months ago.

The ironic thing is that VG now owns Washington Square, directly adjacent to the Book Tower

**Richard** · June-13-11, 11:15 PM

Here is a bit more insight.

Originally Posted by mikeg19

There are several things in this statement that I want to know:

1. Why the Hell aren't banks, financial institutions seeing the potential in these buildings downtown to house this next generation of younger, tech savvy worker that wanna live in a city center, and make it a bit easier to float the loans for these redevelopments?

Because historically banks do not finance speculation they are used after the building is purchased with alternative funding. Banks base loans on the market value of a fixed completed project.Alternative funding is based on ARV or after repair value usually according to a percentage of the speculated value once it is fixed say for instance 60% or what the property would sell for in an immediate fire sale should the project go belly up for some reason.

Which would then leave the remaining 40% needing financed that is where the brown-field and other incentives would come in which infuses the added cash into the project to either account for the properties currant lack of value or give the person that is sponsoring the project some skin or investment into the project.

In the past it was really a matter of basically if you have a good project the money was flowing and funded because the cost of real estate was going up so fast not so much any more.

So now what is needed is if you have a building that is say ready to move into you would find tenants that would be interested and have them sign a tentative lease agreement before the deal is done it proves to the funding partners that it is indeed a viable risk.But that in its self is not so easy to do when you do not have control of the property.There are ways around this if the property owner is per say motivated but it seems as though motivated is not in some commercial property owners vocabulary in Detroit.

2. Is Snyder's proclamation that the tax credits that many of these developments use [[Broderick, Whitney) will either be slashed or eliminated scaring off potential investors or banks to get these projects started?

[I]Yes and no he is picking winners and losers ,he did not have a problem giving GE $43,000,000
after the fact to place a solar assembly plant employing 200 in Ann Arbor,but anybody that knows anything about solar production knows that the plant being built will not be able to produce at the level that is needed for profit ,so he basically funded a tax loss write off for GE at taxpayers expense.

But yes the cuts are having a direct impact and as we are really a global ecomeny and other cities and states are still offering the incentives without the internal pissing contests, it does not matter how cheap the property is it boils down to location location location sometimes it is better to pay a bit more for a better return as everything is relevant.
[/I]

3. Are the prices being asked to live in downtown not "fair" enough to draw in more people thus driving up the demand? Considering a young professional such as myself doesn't want to pay $1200 a month plus all my other expenses just to live downtown. It needs to be reasonable.

Rates are based on supply and demand currently it costs money to purchase and rehab buildings which is repaid by collected rents if you cannot repay based on $600 per month rents it is not a viable project ,if the total costs demand $1200 a month to pay back the note and create a surplus for future repairs and the average rental is $600 well then it becomes a dead project.

4. What ever happened to the Key Group in regards to the planned renovation, greening of the Book building/Tower? Their website says nothing.

Pure speculation on my part but I would guess based on what I described above they may have acquired the first round of funding for the actual "take down " of the property or the purchase which gives them more leverage for future funding requests and now because of fluid market conditions they may have stalled on phase two of the funding who knows and I am just guessing but it is a possibility,and the funding process in itself can be a long endeavor .

5. Can we all live in imagination land for 10 seconds and imagine the Ponchatrain, Book Tower, Broderick, Whitney, UA Theatre, Stott Tower, and all of Merchants Row packed with residential/commercial space at 95% occupancy? I honestly don't think that dream is too far off at this point, which would have seemed insane to merely suggest that 18 months ago.

**Detroit500** · September-29-13, 02:42 PM

saw a photo of this building in the Freep.com today. Made me wonder if any development will ever be happening with it...

**mikeg19** · September-30-13, 08:46 AM

I saw the photo as well, although these was no mention of it in the actual article. Wonder what's going on with it. I still can't believe someone hasn't done something with it yet.