LANSING, Mich. — At FOX 47 we explore all of Mid Michigan giving you an inside look into places you might have seen but never stepped into, to give you a feel for the location and maybe entice you to visit yourself. This week we are exploring the iconic Boji Tower in Downtown Lansing.
About Boji Tower:
- Construction on the building began in November 1929 and was completed in March 1931.
- The building consists of 25 stories and two basement levels.
- The height of the building is 300 feet above the street.
- A clock, dating to the 1950s, on the upper floors of the building’s east facade is a Lansing landmark.
- Ransom Eli Olds commissioned the building to hold his banking company’s offices.
- The building was purchased by the Michigan National Bank in January 1954, four years after the death of R.E. Olds.
- In 1998, the family-owned Boji Group purchased the building and later renamed it “Boji Tower.”
- The original banking hall has been converted into a hearing room for the Michigan Senate.
- The main entrance to the original building fronts on Allegan Street and has a three-story recessed Romanesque archway.
- The entire building has a polished granite foundation and a reddish brown brick and limestone trim exterior.
- The original brass elevator doors that access the building’s upper floors depict scenes from the life of Ransom Olds.
- The building offers nearly 250,000 square feet of office space, built to suit both large and small tenants.
- In 1967 the building underwent an expansion that included a 10-story addition on a full second city lot to the east. The building was fully renovated following Boji Group’s purchase in 1998.
The Michigan Historical Marker reads:
- CAPITAL BANK TOWER
- Upon its completion in 1931, the Capital Bank Tower was hailed by newspapers as the tallest building in the state beyond Detroit. Industrialist and Capital National Bank president Ransom E. Olds commissioned the three hundred-foot skyscraper, which housed the bank in the four lower floors and office space in the upper stories. To accommodate the building, the city council amended an ordinance that limited buildings to 150 feet. Hopkins and Dentz of New York designed the building. It was a major investment in Lansing by Olds, despite the Great Depression. The May 30, 1931, Lansing Capital News headlined: “New Bank Tower Pledge of Faith: 22-Story Structure Monument of Builder’s Belief in Lansing.” The original brass elevator doors depict scenes from the life of Ransom Olds.
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