Book Tower

The Book Tower is a striking 38-story building in the heart of Detroit, Michigan, located in the Washington Boulevard Historic District. Designed by architect Louis Kamper in the Italian Renaissance style, it was built between 1925 and 1926 as an expansion of the original Book Building. When it was completed, the tower was briefly the tallest building in the city, until the Penobscot Building surpassed it in 1928. The complex is named for the influential Book brothers, who owned large parts of the real estate in this area. Originally conceived as an office building, the tower served as a prestigious address until the 1970s, after which it fell into a long decline and eventually stood vacant.

After several failed renovation attempts and changes of ownership, Bedrock Detroit, a company owned by Dan Gilbert, bought the building in 2015. An extensive restoration followed, which took seven years and cost more than $300 million. The architecture firm ODA Architecture led the designs for the adaptive reuse, which is considered one of the largest projects of its kind in Michigan. The work was completed in 2022, and the grand reopening took place in June 2023. For this remarkable transformation, Architectural Digest magazine named the Book Tower one of the most beautiful repurposed buildings in the world.

Today, the renovated building houses a mix of 229 rental apartments, a 117-room apartment hotel, office space, and event venues. On the ground floor, shops, bars, and restaurants invite you to linger. Architecturally, the facade stands out for its cartouche ornamentation by the sculptor Corrado Parducci. Visitors can experience the building's historic fabric, which, despite earlier criticism of the choice of materials and the exterior fire escapes, now serves as a modern, multifunctional hub in downtown Detroit.