Power is still out at the Leland House in downtown Detroit, despite warnings last week that the building could face a shutoff for overdue electric bills. As of Thursday night, residents remained without electricity and heat after a failure in equipment labeled as “customer-owned,” according to DTE Energy.
Officially, the building’s management was ordered to deposit funds for overdue charges by Monday to keep the lights on, but power had already gone out on Wednesday and had not been restored by late Thursday.
DTE spokesperson Dana St. Coeur attributed the outage to “customer-owned equipment that cannot be accessed due to existing structural hazards inside the building.” She added that DTE empathizes with the residents and recognizes the difficulties they have endured in recent weeks.
Approximately 40 tenants live in the 22-story Leland House, which dates back to 1927 and sits on the National Register of Historic Places. City officials have previously cited the building for code violations.
To address the crisis, St. Coeur said DTE is coordinating with the city to keep residents safe and provide temporary housing. The company is assisting with hotel accommodations until repairs to the building can be completed.
The city has not immediately responded to inquiries about where displaced residents have been relocated.
DTE’s stance remains: service can be restored as soon as the building owner completes the necessary repairs and ensures a safe environment. The company indicated that, were it not for the current equipment problems, power would be flowing again.
A judge overseeing the building’s federal bankruptcy case, U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division Judge Maria Oxholm, ordered the Leland House’s management to pay a $57,000 deposit on its overdue bill by Monday. Ryan Heilman, attorney for the Leland House Limited Partnership (the building’s owner), confirmed during a bankruptcy hearing that the deposit was paid, a fact corroborated by a recording obtained by The News from federal court records.
The Leland House Limited Partnership has operated the property since the death of former owner Mike Higgins in 2023. The building’s history includes past safety and habitation concerns, including a 2022 lawsuit in which the city deemed the property “unfit for human habitation” after inspections found issues like standing water in the basement, unreliable heating, missing smoke detectors, and only one functional elevator. In response, management agreed to bring the building up to code.
This ongoing situation underscores a broader tension between historic properties with complex ownership structures and the urgent need to provide safe, reliable housing for residents. It also highlights how interwoven utility obligations, municipal regulations, and bankruptcy proceedings can complicate timely repairs and stabilizing services in urban cores.
What do you think about the balance between preserving historic buildings and ensuring resident safety and utility reliability? If you have thoughts or experiences related to housing stability in urban centers, share them in the comments.
