The Westin Book Cadillac will be sold.

**Gistok** · September-29-21, 11:03 PM

Announced today in the Detroit Free Press... the hotel had [[like most hotels) had occupancy troubles during the pandemic. The new owner is the same group that is planning on building the Godfrey Hotel in Corktown...

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...4FydSlKZedrZ9Q

**Satiricalivory** · September-30-21, 12:16 AM

This is fantastic news. Not only will the Book continue it's latest renovation but a prominent investment group outside of Michigan is doubling down on investing in the city and it's future.

**cmubryan** · September-30-21, 06:23 AM

Good. The rooms need a refresh. They are 13 years old and becoming very dated. I'm sure Westin/Marriott has been putting pressure on the current owners to renovate.

**401don** · September-30-21, 06:33 AM

It should help the new hotel also. When the Book is sold out for large conferences/events they can send the overflow to the Godfrey.

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · September-30-21, 10:42 AM

I stayed in the Book a couple of years ago when back in Detroit for a wedding. I’d like to stay there again.

**hybridy** · September-30-21, 12:51 PM

I recall the upstairs bar looking very tired at least 5 years back when we stayed for a wedding. Hope the refresh improves the amenity spaces and the rooms.

**401don** · September-30-21, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by hybridy

I recall the upstairs bar looking very tired at least 5 years back when we stayed for a wedding. Hope the refresh improves the amenity spaces and the rooms.

I'm sure I'm dating myself but I much prefer the old style bars with a decent size bar where you can stand, have a drink and talk to a few strangers. The booths were nicer than the trend to chairs/couches with low tables also. The old lobby bar was great. A hotel bar should be at street level, encouraging locals to stop in.

**Danny** · October-01-21, 06:19 AM

Goodbye Ferchill!

**Burnsie** · October-02-21, 08:19 AM

Freep article yesterday says the prospective owner seeks a 12-year tax freeze of just over $26 million in return for spending $16.5 million in renovations and maintenance. Not a bad deal!

**Gistok** · October-02-21, 10:19 AM

^ I wonder if the Condo owners got an extension on their tax reduction?

**DetBill** · October-02-21, 11:52 AM

The big question now is who is going to be the operator of the hotel. Ferchill owned the building, and Marriott signed a long-term contract to be the operator of it. However, Godfrey is a hotel operator of its own, and I’m not sure whether they have to honor the contract with Marriott, or it’ll become a Godfrey hotel and self ran , Or if they will honor the original contract and have Marriott be the operator of it even though they own the building.That has enormous consequences for present employees working there, Their contracts and their union and their seniority, nobody knows exactly what the details are, family members work there . All concerned are very curious to find out exactly what this deal entails and when it happens, They have been told nothing as yet.

**DetBill** · October-02-21, 12:02 PM

Yes it’s probably good for Detroit, because Ferchill just didn’t have the resources to keep the hotel going, however we have to thank this guy and his family big-time. He literally rescued this hotel from the bulldozer, and renovated it beautifully , It was an absolute disaster inside before the restoration, and so few wanted to spend money in Detroit. He went to great lengths with details to bring this hotel back to the level it is. He stuck his neck out when few others would, and we have to be grateful for that, overall he did a beautiful job. He was very proud of this hotel always, he and his family have had several offers ,years ago, from large conglomerates to buy the building and he just refused, he was so proud of it. Times have changed in the last couple of years for obvious reasons, and he found himself way over his head.

**Gistok** · October-02-21, 01:04 PM

For all the kudos that Ferchill rightly deserved, they really dropped the ball on probably the most ornate area of the hotel, the lobby ceiling.

Here's a review to confirm this...
____________

"The Book Cadillac has a rich history, and good for Westin [Ferchill] for trying to make a go of it as the rest of downtown Detroit limped along.

That said, Westin [Ferchill] really missed the mark here when it renovated the Book Cadillac. Once inside, you could be anywhere -- there is no sense of place or connection to Detroit or the Book Cadillac hotel history. The photo of the bar/lounge sort of says it all -- a grand space with ornate detail [that may or may not have been original] with big, modern "Westin" chandeliers tacked on like brand appliqués."
___________

The original very ornate jeweled plaster ceiling of the Book Cadillac's lobby survived 30 years of abandonment above a drop ceiling of florescent lights... only to be ripped out by Ferchill to be replaced by a bland flat ceiling to give them a space for Westin to hang their now "dated" Westin Chandeliers.

**NSortzi** · October-02-21, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by DetBill

The big question now is who is going to be the operator of the hotel. Ferchill owned the building, and Marriott signed a long-term contract to be the operator of it. However, Godfrey is a hotel operator of its own, and I’m not sure whether they have to honor the contract with Marriott, or it’ll become a Godfrey hotel and self ran , Or if they will honor the original contract and have Marriott be the operator of it even though they own the building.That has enormous consequences for present employees working there, Their contracts and their union and their seniority, nobody knows exactly what the details are, family members work there . All concerned are very curious to find out exactly what this deal entails and when it happens, They have been told nothing as yet.

Godfrey didn’t buy the hotel, the company that operates/develops Godfrey hotels did. They own other branded hotels besides just the Godfrey nameplate. Westin will most likely be staying.

**Satiricalivory** · October-02-21, 02:53 PM

No landlord in their right mind is going to oust a long term tenant with an agreement. That's the whole value of the property.

This is absurd speculation.

**Satiricalivory** · October-02-21, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by DetBill

Yes it’s probably good for Detroit, because Ferchill just didn’t have the resources to keep the hotel going, however we have to thank this guy and his family big-time. He literally rescued this hotel from the bulldozer, and renovated it beautifully , It was an absolute disaster inside before the restoration, and so few wanted to spend money in Detroit. He went to great lengths with details to bring this hotel back to the level it is. He stuck his neck out when few others would, and we have to be grateful for that, overall he did a beautiful job. He was very proud of this hotel always, he and his family have had several offers ,years ago, from large conglomerates to buy the building and he just refused, he was so proud of it. Times have changed in the last couple of years for obvious reasons, and he found himself way over his head.

It's kinda sad that he was forced out though.

**Burnsie** · October-02-21, 03:09 PM

Practically the only original interior decor saved was the ballroom railings, and the marble steps & some wainscoting leading up from the Michigan Ave. entrance. Everything else was taken down to concrete & steel.

If the renovation had been done in the 3D printing era, maybe more plaster decor would have been re-created.

**Gistok** · October-02-21, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by Burnsie

Practically the only original interior decor saved was the ballroom railings, and the marble steps & some wainscoting leading up from the Michigan Ave. entrance. Everything else was taken down to concrete & steel.

If the renovation had been done in the 3D printing era, maybe more plaster decor would have been re-created.

Good point!

But when theatre restores redo ornate plasterwork, they create molds of existing plasterwork that replicates the replaced parts. That was done back in the 1990s with the Detroit Opera House, which had 90% of its' plasterwork recreated.

Can plasterwork be recreated in 3D?

Probably not in plaster though?

I just recently watched a video on space rocket components being made in 3D, and was amazed! 3D really is the wave of the future.

**Burnsie** · October-03-21, 01:21 AM

Yeah, hand techniques with plaster are probably still more common. Ford is using old and new methods at the MC Depot. Maybe they are making some 3D plastic pieces that look like plaster.

Perhaps the main reason the details weren't restored was a combination of budget limits and Westin's and/or Ferchill's lack of interest in pushing it to a higher level than, as Bob Ross would say, "some indications here and there" of the original. Westin definitely went with a contemporary look with the chandeliers, but they weren't cheap, made of Italian glass.

Another technique I believe was a lot more rare circa 2007 was use of laser/computer measuring of surviving ornament.

I always got the impression that the project was balancing on pins and needles with the financing; maybe a push toward a more faithful decor recreation would have tipped over the budget. We'll never know.

For whatever reason, the Fort Shelby seemed to take more pains to recreate/restore the decor faithfully.

One thing sorely missing in the B-C that seemingly wouldn't be that expensive to fix is the very bland color scheme. Kamper and his team filled the public rooms with lots of colors, not beige and brown everywhere. Paint that flat lobby ceiling gold!

**bust** · October-03-21, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by Burnsie

If the renovation had been done in the 3D printing era, maybe more plaster decor would have been re-created.

The renovation was done at least a decade after the 3D printing era began, at least a couple years after it was commercially available for architectural molds.

Found a website from 2006:
https://www.moldmakingtechnology.com...r-sand-casting

This one looks like it's from 2005:
https://www.3axis.us/precision_sandcasting.asp

Originally Posted by Gistok

Can plasterwork be recreated in 3D?

Probably not in plaster though?

As someone here corrected me, as it applied to the Book Tower restoration, the mold would likely be used to create replicas cast in fiberglass to reduce weight, difficulty, and cost -- and they'd appear indistinguishable.

I'm sure it would have still been more expensive than what was done, especially then.

Considering the risk and expense already undertaken, and the great value contributed by the renovation, I'm not sure it's right to complain. Fair to regret what was lost, but whom to blame?

**wolverine** · October-06-21, 01:47 PM

I do quite a bit of 3D printing work. Restoration application in buildings still isn’t all that practical by deposition. You’d do this all with CNC machines. You can do that stuff with stone too. Anything built in the late 1800’s and 1900’s can be rebuilt today if there’s a digital fabrication shop that can scale up a large project or a market for it.

There’s still stuff being done by hand. Check out the Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Decision was to either restore it with machines or artists. They opted to use artists which I think was the right decision. Still, machines can make restorations of exteriors and interiors affordable

https://youtu.be/lvlWU1JROD4

**Gistok** · October-06-21, 05:07 PM

The exterior terra cotta of the Broadway side of the Detroit Opera House had about 5% of the terra cotta replaced. And the interior ornate plaster of the Detroit Opera House was 90% replaced. This was all done via the "mold" process that Wolverine just linked to. But of course this was done in the 1990s [interior] and 2000s [exterior].

**Richard** · October-06-21, 05:09 PM

I have a friend whose daughter could have choose any career path she wanted,but she choose architectural engineering to be able to recreate historical moldings and details,pretty cool.

They can 3D print you a car body in California but I have been looking for over a year for somebody to 3D print a simple N/A gear,there must be a lot of machines out there in use where the users do not know Cad.

**Gistok** · October-06-21, 05:47 PM

^Richard, the Detroit Opera House would have been a dream project for your friends daughter. No American movie palace was as far gone... and yet brought back to life [90% of plasterwork recreated] as the old Capitol Theatre here downtown, back in the 1990s as our new opera house.

It's why our United Artists Theatre is not beyond repair, contrary to what the Ilitches say.

**Richard** · October-06-21, 07:59 PM

I hear you,this was my last project.

It was a stripped out flop house for 20 years then vacant for another 10,look at the ceilings,they all had to be recreated from scratch plaster back to original.

I always liked it when somebody told me it could not be done.Because it can.

https://floridanpalace.com/

These were all hand formed by workers imported from Greece,while standing on scaffolding.

We set up a entire woodworking shop in the kitchen in order to rebuild all of the hundreds of original windows and had the hardware cast to replace missing pieces,it took almost 5 years to complete.

After all of that,the insurance company made us disable the functionality of the windows on the top floors because they said people can jump out.

Thats what the BC should look like not some cheap hotel looking mess.

But it is hard economically to take on heavy skilled projects in this country without an imported labor force,there are not enough with that level of skill that can be pulled off of other projects across the country for a large time frame.

Other countries have generational skilled craftsmen where doing this stuff is as common as you or I buying a gallon of paint,and they are still doing it the old way,they even cut lumber with hand saws still with no power tools,hammer and chisel to shape granite and marble.

It’s like watching a plasterer redo a lath and plaster wall,they spread it on like butter and come out with a grade 5 finish with a hand trowel,every little thing is a master skill set in its own.

Its hard to find those skill sets enmass,and getting harder every day.

Think about it,we have been a country for 200 some odd years and these guys are redoing buildings by hand that were built in the 1500s and before as a daily job,they do not go to the box store and buy a stick of crown molding,they whip up some plaster an make it,before even you can get back from the box store.

We have Cad,fancy computers and multi layered photos,where they just say - yea okay - and whip out a chunk of wood and make a pattern or mould.

Years ago there was a lumber company by me that shut down after 80 years in business,they had millwork profile knifes that dated back to the early 1800s,they could pretty much match anything,they all got thrown in the trash,it was the only place in the state that still had those profiles for restoration work.

Sure new ones can be made to order,expensive to do,but those knives in itself told a history of architectural feature in millwork that cannot be replaced.