Book tower

**inspire989** · December-10-11, 03:16 AM

does anyone know about future plans for the book tower? i've been obsessed with this building for so long. i call it the "tower of terror". it is seriously one of the coolest buildings i have ever seen and the fact that it sits unoccupied [[like many others) is insane to me. i live downtown and i am into urbexing but i don't know of anyone who has been inside. i would love to know if any of you have or any info you have about the future of this building.

**kryptonite** · December-10-11, 07:25 AM

There are rumors that there are interested developers looking at the building, including Ferchill the owner of the Book Cadillac and a NYC developer. I have seen mention of that in either Crains or one of the Detroit papers in recent months. Supposedly some developers are interested in converting the Book Tower to apartments. And I read recently that the building has been better secured and that water was pumped out of the basements. It could be that there was a thread on Detroityes about the Book not that long ago.

**401don** · December-10-11, 09:46 AM

Don't let it keep you up nights. In Detroit you can come back for an update every 10 years or so and I only wish I was being sarcastic.

**WickedILL** · December-10-11, 11:27 PM

Originally Posted by inspire989

does anyone know about future plans for the book tower? i've been obsessed with this building for so long. i call it the "tower of terror". it is seriously one of the coolest buildings i have ever seen and the fact that it sits unoccupied [[like many others) is insane to me. i live downtown and i am into urbexing but i don't know of anyone who has been inside. i would love to know if any of you have or any info you have about the future of this building.

Me too. That place is awesome. If only I had the $ to buy it, lol.

**Gistok** · December-10-11, 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by inspire989

does anyone know about future plans for the book tower? i've been obsessed with this building for so long. i call it the "tower of terror". it is seriously one of the coolest buildings i have ever seen and the fact that it sits unoccupied [[like many others) is insane to me. i live downtown and i am into urbexing but i don't know of anyone who has been inside. i would love to know if any of you have or any info you have about the future of this building.

"Tower of Terror".... I love it!

Southen, one of our long time posters happens to now be a professional photographer... and he's done an excellent series of images of Detroit's monuments, and he did this black/white masterpiece of the Book Tower...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southen...7594123428660/

He calls it "Gotham"... and I agree 100% with his assessment.

This building was finished in 1926... so it was still about 2 years before Art Deco and [[later) Moderne styles were in vogue. So office towers were still following the older architectural styles, but on a more vertical scale. And the Book Tower follows a sort of "Beaux Arts" style with lavish detailing.

One can see that the regrettable mid 20th century "modernizations" that were done to the Broderick, Whitney, Michigan Mutual, United Artists, and other skyscrapers, seemed to have passed the Book Tower on by. There is so much detail in this Southen image, that it is likely that no cornices were removed from the Book Tower back when in the 1950s a city ordinance came out with a "maintain it or loose it" policy. Those huge overhanging figures on the attached Book Building's wide cornices attest to that.

That's not to say that the 3 story lobby didn't get "infill" floors, but didn't Susan Lambrecht have that removed to reveal an ornate ceiling? Can't recall...

It does look like a terrifying leviathan in its' blackened state. I wonder how nice it would look with all of its' terra cotta and stone cleaned up?

**mwilbert** · December-11-11, 12:15 AM

It is one of my favorite buildings downtown precisely because it is so unusual.

I don't have any current information, but I believe the following:

1) The only likely use for most of the space above the first floor is residential.
2) The rehab costs would be really high.
3) It is hard to see how you could recoup the rehab costs at plausible Detroit prices.

There are some tax credits potentially available, and I hope someone redevelops it, but it will take someone with deep pockets and probably a deep sense of optimism. I'm also not sure where people would park--some people used to park at Trolley Plaza, but I doubt there is enough room left there, and the other options are less convenient. I used to park further out Grand River, but I wasn't leaving my car there all the time.

**Gistok** · December-11-11, 02:00 AM

The new owners of the Book Building/Tower purchased that 2 story building [[on the site of the planned 81 story 3rd part of the Book complex) to the south of the complex. They could replace that plain building with a parking structure, if necessary, and it may have been the reason for purchasing it from the Archdiocese of Detroit.