Sunday, October 23, 2005

Book- Cadillac project gets lift

Chevron TCI may help secure $60 million in financing to renovate vacant historic hotel.

By R.J. King / The Detroit News

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DETROIT -- A California-based equity finance firm is expected to provide backing for nearly $60 million in financing needed to convert the vacant Book-Cadillac Hotel into a 400-room lodge and 58 luxury condominiums.

Chevron TCI Inc. would provide more than a third of the funds needed to help finalize a $163 million renovation plan for the hotel site. If all goes as planned, the historic building would reopen in 2008 as the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel.

"We don't see any reason why (the financing) won't happen," said Alan Levine, president of Chevron TCI in San Francisco, which invests in real estate projects.

Wayne County is also being asked to invest $2 million in the renovation of the 33-story structure at Washington and Michigan that operated from 1924 to 1984.

The remaining financing is made up of private and public funds. The Internal Revenue Service ruled last summer to allow for tax deductions for the renovation, a decision that delayed the project by several months.

"We believe the financing will be finalized this year and construction will begin next year," said George W. Jackson Jr., president of Detroit Economic Growth Corp., a quasi-public development agency.

The developer of the Book-Cadillac, Cleveland-based Ferchill Group, recently built a 198-room Hilton Garden Inn in Detroit's Harmonie Park. For the Book-Cadillac, Ferchill Group plans to operate the facility as a full-service Westin offering dining and conference space. Westin spokesman Paul Sacco confirmed negotiations were under way.

Wayne County Commissioner Philip Cavanagh said the renovation of the Book-Cadillac Hotel would be another symbol of downtown Detroit's fledgling revitalization.

Chevron TCI recently bought $2.7 million in tax credits as part of a $16 million renovation of the Kales Building in downtown Detroit into 119 apartments.