Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Book-Cadillac Hotel. For the "Book Tower" in Detroit, Michigan see that article.
| Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel | |
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| Information | |
|---|---|
| Location | 1114 Washington Blvd. |
| Status | Complete |
| Constructed | 1924 2008 |
| Use | hotel |
| Roof | 106.4 m (349 ft.) |
| Floor count | 32 |
| Floor area | 455 hotel rooms
67 condominium units |
| Companies | |
| Architect | Louis Kamper
Ferchill Group |
The Westin Book-Cadillac Detroit, at 1114 Washington Boulevard, is an Italian Renaissance-styled high-rise hotel in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Built as the Book-Cadillac, it embodies neo-classical architecture, incorporating brick and limestone elements. The hotel is 32 stories tall, including 21 floors of rooms, several mechanical floors and the upper 8 floors are slated to be converted into condominiums under the ongoing renovation effort.
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[edit] History
It was built in 1923, completed in 1924, by J.B., Frank and Herbert Book. The brothers sought to turn Washington Boulevard into the "Fifth Avenue of the West". Part of that vision was creation of a luxury hotel. They commissioned Louis Kamper to be the hotel's architect, who had worked with the Book brothers in 1917 on the Book Building. Construction began in 1923 and when the building opened in December 1924, it was the tallest building in the city and the tallest hotel in the world.[1]
The hotel that had cost $14 million to build contained 1,136 guest rooms and public spaces on the first five floors that included three dinning rooms, three ballrooms, a spacious lobby, and a ground floor retail arcade. The hotel operated successfully until the Great Depression when banks foreclosed and the Book brothers lost control.[1]
In 1951, Sheraton bought the hotel and it operated as the Sheraton-Cadillac until 1975. In 1975, the hotel was sold and renamed the Detroit-Cadillac. Ownership had changed again in 1976 and it was renamed again, this time under the Radisson flag as the Radisson-Cadillac for about three years until 1979 when it exited the Radisson chain and was renamed the Book-Cadillac. Though it was considered the city's top hotel for many years, its occupancy had fallen off significantly by this point and it was announced the hotel would close. The city of Detroit, scheduled to host the 1980 Republican National Convention, did not want to face the prospect of losing more downtown hotel space so in late 1979 the city entered into a partnership through the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation with the owners to keep the hotel open.
By 1983 it was decided that the only way to bring the hotel back to profitability was to convert it into a mixed-use property. The hotel's 1100 rooms were too many to fill and were too small by modern standards. The plan would turn the building into the Book-Cadillac Plaza, a 12 floor, 550 room hotel and 11 floors of office space. The hotel closed its doors in 1984 for the renovation, but those plans were quickly dashed as construction cost soared. For the next two years developers came and went, but with no one able to take on the increasingly complex renovation it was decided in 1986 to liquidate its contents. After the sale, the hotel's retail tenants who had planned to stay through the renovation moved out and the building was shuttered, a state it would stay in for the next 20 years.
In July 2003, after years of legal battles to fully acquire the building and to find a developer, the city of Detroit announced a $150 million renovation deal with the Kimberly-Clark Corporation to turn the building into a Renaissance Hotel. Work started shortly after the announcement but came to a halt in November when construction crews discovered more damage than anticipated. The associated cost overrun caused Kimberly-Clark to back out of the deal. A new renovation plan through the Cleveland-based Ferchill Group was announced in November 2005, with the Book-Cadillac to become a Westin Hotel. Work started in August 2006 and is scheduled to be completed in late 2008. It is hoped that its re-opening may spur new business growth in its neighborhood.
[edit] Description
- Address: 1114 Washington Boulevard Detroit, Michigan 48226
- Architect: Louis Kamper
- Developer: Book Brothers
- Developer (renovation): Ferchill Group
- If you count the prominent, but small penthouse floors, the tower is 32 stories in height.
- On June 27, 2006 the Ferchill Group closed on a deal to renovate this structure into a mixed-use hotel and condominium building including a 455-room Westin hotel, and 67 condominiums units priced above $300,000. The project will cost $176 million and is scheduled to be completed in 2008.
[edit] Education
Residents of the condominiums will be zoned to Detroit Public Schools campuses.
If the attendance boundaries do not change by opening:
- Burton International School (K-8)
- Murray-Wright High School (9-12)
[edit] References
- Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3.
- Kohrman, David (2002). Detroit's Statler and Book-Cadillac Hotels (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2025-x.
- Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.
- Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.
- Savage, Rebecca Binno and Greg Kowalski (2004). Art Deco in Detroit (Images of America). Arcadia. ISBN 0-7385-3228-2.
[edit] External links
- Westin Book Cadillac Detroit Residences official site
- Google Maps location of the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel
- The Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel at Emporis.com
- SkyscraperPage.com's Profile on the Book-Cadillac Hotel
- WDIV-TV Detroit's stories on the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel
- Book-Cadillac Hotel at Forgotten Detroit
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