Quote Originally Posted by mikeg19 View Post
How so? The building was in use up to 2009 I believe and it's been inaccessible to trespassers, vandals, and scrappers. There is a guard there 24/7 as well. The building is in pretty good shape, although it would most likely need new electrical and plumbing amongst other upgrades. Still, it wouldn't cost near anything the Book Cadillac cost to renovate.
I don't think there is any unique factor that would make the Book Tower unusually expensive to renovate. However, it is a big building, which would make it a big project, and the upper floors probably only have a future as residential space.

I was in the building semi-regularly up until it closed, and my guess is that above the first couple of floors there is basically nothing usable but the exterior walls, elevator cores, and subflooring. The building wasn't in great repair, but more importantly everything in it was really old and unsuited to residential use. It wasn't all that well-suited to office use.

I hope that if the Broderick and Stott buildings are successful, someone will try to redo the Book. I think a lot of people would find living in the tower attractive, but I doubt it can be financed until there more of a track record with that kind of project downtown.