Bedrock shows renovation progress at Detroit's historic Book Tower

Detroit — In about one year, the historic Book Tower on Washington Boulevard is expected to open to the public and offer retail, hotel, office and residential space.

Bedrock gave a tour Thursday of its progress toward renovating the long-unoccupied Italian Renaissance-style building, which it bought in 2015. Work includes restoration of the original limestone and masonry façade, replacing more than 2,400 historically accurate windows, and turning former office space into more than 200 residential units.

“It’s been a labor of love and it’s come a long way since then,” said T. Morris, senior project coordinator for Bedrock’s architecture team. He stood in a light-filled, 15th-floor corner apartment overlooking Washington and Grand River — one of 229 residential units in the development.

In addition to the 38-story Book Tower, Bedrock's $313 million project includes the adjoining 13-story Book Building structure designed by Louis Kamper. The spaces have sat empty since 2009. 

Construction crews, led by Detroit-based Christman Brinker, were on site Thursday working on the development that will take what was once an office building and turn it into a mixed-use space for residents and guests. There will be retail in the basement and on the first floor, and office space on the second and third floors, according to Bedrock.

The ROOST Apartment Hotel will be on floors four to eight and will feature 118 studio, one and two-bedroom units. It will be operated by Philadelphia-based Method Hospitality. Floors nine to 36 will feature the residential units averaging 795 square feet and ranging from studios to two-bedroom units with den. Rental rates have not yet been released, officials said.

New features for the site will include a 1,400-square-foot rooftop bar with 2,500 square feet of outdoor terrace space atop the Book Building.

Also new for the site is a 2,500-square-foot ballroom with a glass skylight on the 13th floor where the building and tower adjoin. Bedrock found the space with its original metal trusswork and a concrete ceiling. Original plans for the building had the space labeled as an auditorium, Morris said.

“We think for the office users this was a large event space that the office users could rent out and have larger meetings and functions in, so we wanted to restore that spirit of gathering and bring people up again from the ground floor to the higher levels of the building to experience the amazing spaces we inherited like this one,” he said.

Among the intricate undertakings for the project are the restoration of original plaster and an art glass skylight that was blocked.

Ferndale-based Russell Plastering is handling the plasterwork while New Jersey-based Femenella & Associates is undertaking the skylight restoration.  

Arthur Femenella, vice president of Femenella & Associates, said his firm, along with New York City-based ODA Architecture, used an old photograph of the dome and the remaining cast iron frame with dome to aid in the design. The restoration process will involve replicating the missing framework and glass, which will feature 7,000 jewels — of which 3,000 will have to be replicated. The dome and glass will be put back into place and a new undercroft built.

Femenella said the project is a rare one.

“In 75 years of experience in our office, we’ve never seen anything like this," he said. "Doing this type of design, again, is something very new to us. We’re going to make this whole entire thing based on the old means and methods, which we had to learn by reverse engineering.”

cwilliams@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @CWilliams_DN