Done deal: $180M to revive once grand hotel
Complex Book-Cadillac project will bring 455 rooms, 67 luxury condos to struggling downtown.
Louis Aguilar / The Detroit News
A 33-story eyesore on the downtown Detroit skyline will be transformed into a top-of-the-line hotel under a $180 million plan, unveiled Tuesday, to renovate the long-vacant Book-Cadillac Hotel.
Hailed as the biggest renovation project in downtown Detroit since the Fox Theatre was restored 18 years ago, the new hotel will have 455 rooms (with 42-inch flat-screen TVs, high-speed cable and wireless Internet access), 67 condos (priced at up to $1 million), three ballrooms (two restored to their original grandeur), three nationally known restaurants and retail shops.
The complex deal involving 22 sources of financing literally was not sealed until late Tuesday afternoon, within the hour of the plan's unveiling by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and Cleveland developer John Ferchill at a gathering at the Detroit Athletic Club.
Construction of the Westin Book-Cadillac is expected to begin next month. A grand opening is anticipated in the summer of 2008. The Book-Cadillac, first opened in 1924, closed 22 years ago.
"They keep saying this is the tipping point with the things going on" downtown, said Granholm at the event attended by about 250.
"It is going to be such a signature building for Detroit. This is a done deal. We want this to be a blueprint for others who come. This sort of group financing is a model for the future. There is no future in Michigan without a vibrant city of Detroit."
Kilpatrick said reopening the hotel is a key step in the city's effort to revive downtown, where billions have been invested in the last decade, and a special day for the generation of Detroiters who have never experienced the grandeur of the former Book-Cadillac.
"What a day, what a day in the city. Yeah, this is big," Kilpatrick told the crowd. "For most of my life, even all through high school at Cass Technical School, I wondered, 'when are they going to do something with that thing?' Well they is us. And we are doing something today."
The self-deprecating Ferchill, who has made a fortune in restoring historic buildings in rust belt cities, first addressed the crowd by saying, "I bet you never thought we would be here, huh?"
Condos may top $1M
In an interview before his speech to the gathering, Ferchill said he is most optimistic about quickly selling the 67 condos. He says a market study showed they'd be sold within 90 days of going on the market.
"Now at first I thought that was crazy, so we had a second (market study). It said the same thing."
The condos are expected to be priced from $200,000 to $1 million.
The hotel part of the project is a bit more troublesome, Ferchill admitted, though market studies do show it could draw customers from Dearborn area hotels.
"I actually, candidly, am not as optimistic about the hotel," he said.
"This will be nicest hotel in Detroit, now whether people will go there. "
It's the largest, most complex deal of Ferchill's 28-year career.
2 ballrooms to be restored
The renovation project will restore two of the hotel's grand ballrooms to their original state.
A third ballroom, the largest in the city at 11,000 square feet, will be added to the north side of the hotel.
The complex also will include a national chain steakhouse, a Detroit-oriented sports bar and coffeehouse on the street level. Ferchill mentioned that he is negotiating with a former co-owner of a now-defunct bar near Tiger Stadium to accumulate his Detroit sports paraphernalia.
The hotel, at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue, will accommodate 2,000 guests and employ 300 full-and part-time employees.
Project is symbolic
Former Marygrove College President Glenda Price was among those who came to listen to the announcement. Price, who retired last week, led the college to do more outreach in Detroit and is a member of various boards and commissions in the city.
"It's very important for everyone in the community to support development because it's going to affect all the work the rest of us do," Price said.
Brother Francis Boylan of the Samaritan Center has been an advocate for families for years. He said the renovated hotel will be good for the city and the families that reside in the city. "Anything that strengthens families is a good thing," he said.
The project "is symbolic of what's happening in Detroit," said Lucius Vassar, chief administrative officer for the city.
The mayor has been trying to turn the city around and make it a destination spot for travelers, Vassar said, adding that the hotel is another part of the mayor's plan.
"This is one of the most unique and complex projects," Vassar said, noting the multiple layers of financing and the city's desire to maintain the building's historical characteristics. "That's why it took so long" to get the project off the ground.
Deal has 22 funding sources
The Book-Cadillac was the city's pre-eminent hotel for six decades. Presidents, movie stars and high-rolling gangsters stayed there.
After closing in 1984, what to do with historic building has vexed every mayor since Coleman Young.
It took developer Ferchill and the Detroit Economic Growth Corp., the quasi-public group that works on reviving the city, more than a year to piece together the finance package that includes 22 sources of funding.
"Next month, we will begin the transformation of this historic and long-neglected corner on Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue to anchor downtown Detroit for investment and create catalytic opportunity with its connections to the Convention Center, Riverwalk and the city's celebrated sports arenas and ballparks," Ferchill said.
The project joins billions of dollars in public and private investment that have been poured into downtown the past 10 years, bringing new life to long-empty historic buildings and filling the city's blighted core with new casinos, lofts, restaurants, martini bars and small retail shops.
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