Boji Tower

The Boji Tower, also known as the Olds Tower is a historic 23-story building located at 124 Allegan Street, in Lansing, Michigan. It has been the tallest building in Lansing since its completion in 1931. On December 6, 2005, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Capital Bank Tower.HistoryThe tower was originally constructed as the Olds Tower, named after the automotive industrialist, Ransom Eli Olds, who was the main financier of the tower project assisted by Edmund C. Shields of the local law firm of Thomas Shields & Silsbee. Shortly thereafter it was renamed Capital National Bank Tower, after the bank that Ransom Eli Olds helped form. The cornerstone was laid on November 14, 1929.It became the Michigan National Bank Tower in 1954, and held that name until 2001 when Michigan National Bank was bought out by Standard Federal Bank. At the request of Standard Federal Bank, the owners of the tower removed the historic neon 'Michigan National' sign in that year. After four-and-a-half years without a name, it was renamed Boji Tower in 2005 after the Boji family, a father and son development team of Iraqi descent, who had owned the tower since 1998.The tower has been through one major expansion which occurred between 1965 and 1967, which include the addition of an 11-story annex built directly adjacent to the front of the tower. The tower has undergone multiple minor renovations since 1998 under the Boji Group's ownership. In November 2007, the building's original antenna tower was replaced by helicopter for a new one to handle new antennas for WJZL.