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Book tower sold to NY developer

resourcefulidiot

By resourcefulidiot
in Detroit

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Zissou Burg

Zissou

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This sounds really good. It sounds like they are immediately going to pump money into it. The conversion into to residential had been speculated for some time, now it looks like it may finally go through.

Between this and the Book Cadillac, Washington Boulevard looks to be experiencing a resurgence. Theres nothing I would like to see more than Washington go the way of Woodward with people living there and a more vibrant streetscape. Nothing but good can come from this.

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wolverine Town

wolverine

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Yeah, I agree. Washington Blvd looks really great right now, but there's still a few vacant stores that could be renovated, and it would make a huge difference.

Well, I guess this calls for a facade cleaning. Half is already done, the developer has a head start!

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RustTown City

RustTown

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I didn't see anything about them immediately going to continue renovations. They seem to have the same aspirations as the former owner, but unlike her it sounds as if they they have the wherewithall/money to actually complete renovation and conversion. Time will only tell if they aren't just paying lip service to the idea.

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Zissou Burg

Zissou

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I guess I just assumed that they would get started as soon as possible. It might just be lip service, but the fact that they have a plan and that they have been looking at the Detroit market for some time, bodes well for this going through.

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wolverine Town

wolverine

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To be honest, I'd trust out of state investors/developers far more than I would in-state ones. You see rest-of-the-world getting it's act together while things seemingly take forever here. I'm definitely not going to blame the current owner for the Book's problems though. Let's face it, when there's only a few tenants, there's not much money around to make improvements. The building's condition was basically stuck until some windfall would come along where people were suddenly interested in the type of office space available in that building, and didn't give a crap what condition they were in. Now we have investors with money who, no doubt, want to see their investment prosper. I believe we will be seeing work getting done. If that means cleaning up floors that have been unoccupied for years, upgrading elevators, or giving hallways a fresh coat of paint, it's a great improvement.

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MJLO City

MJLO

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I can only see this as a good! The book tower has been one of my favorite buildings in downtown Detroit, since I was a kid starting to learn about it. I'd love to see these guys take care of it, and use a little bleach, maybe a power washer to make the outside of it not look like poo! Hey i'll even volunteer to help, all I require is free starbucks, and i'll get up there four hundred feet in the air with yellow kitchen gloves a bucket of soapy water and a scruby thing!

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Allan Metropolis

Allan

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I saw this one coming from a mile away, lol. Susan did what she could to keep the building afloat in the worst of times downtown, but it's nice to see that a group of investors with the money to fix up the place has finally purchased the building.

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RustTown City

RustTown

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I'm sure all of the dishes and antennas on the roof bring in a lot of money, but I would love to see them restore it to it's original condition. Hopefully with a complete facade improvement, people will stop thinking it is an abandoned building...;)

But, they obviously didn't bring in enough money for Susan to follow through on the clean-up and renovation. Remember, she had to stop the facade cleaning because of lack of money, I think it was. Does anyone know what the occupancy stands at? I've always heard around 30%. I also wonder if Ms. Lambrecht will stay envolved in the downtown development scene and maybe use the money she got from the sell to rehab a smaller building?

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Michi Burg

Michi

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I hope she does. She really does have good intentions for the city. It's about time, things got underway and ownership has transferred to an interest that has the ability and desire to put this landmark back on the scene. It can be done, and like LMich said, it's going to take the creativity and know-how of someone not from here to do it. Not that we're not capable though.

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resourcefulidiot Whistle-Stop

resourcefulidiot

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http://www.crainsdetroit.com/apps/pbcs.dll...ID=200660811001

new development (I know ur not supposed to quote long articles but the damn service is not free anymore)

"The new owners of the Book Tower and Book Building in downtown Detroit plan to convert the upper floors to luxury condominiums, said Ricardo Pagan, president of The Pagan Organization, a New York City investment and development group.

Included are a 13-story building at 1249 Washington Blvd. built in 1917 and the adjoining 38-story tower built in 1928.

Pagan declined to disclose what he paid for the buildings or what he plans to invest in renovation and rehabilitation. He said his company is moving to Detroit and will be headquartered in the Book Tower offices.

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hudkina Burg

hudkina

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He said his company is moving to Detroit and will be headquartered in the Book Tower offices.

Does that mean that he's moving his entire operations to Detroit, or is he just opening up a branch office in Detroit? By saying the headquarters will be in the Book Tower, it sounds like the company will be based out of Detroit, but maybe the reporter mis-read it?

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RustTown City

RustTown

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Wow, he's moving his business to be headquarterd in Detroit. I was a little skeptical about this, but he sounds very serious. I was also surprised to see the current occupancy at about 40%. I'd expect considerably lower. From what I've heard, the tower is totally occupied, or nearly completely, and that it is the building that held most of the empty space. Lambrecht had supposedly moved all office tenants to the tower to free up the building for a possible renovation.

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MJLO City

MJLO

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Is there any more info on this guy or this company? I'm googleing and when I put in the word pagan, no matter what combination, I always end up with witch craft, i'm not having much luck with finding details.

I hope this is legit, because it sounds as if an investment firm from New York, might be uprooting and planting itself in downtown Detroit in one of it's landmark buildings. It's still early in the discussion, but it almost sounds as if the company would just up and do this. Without fanfare or asking the state and city for concessions.

Is it legit, or are people just tickling my ears.

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