Power remains out at Leland apartments in downtown Detroit

The Leland House apartments in downtown Detroit, threatened last week with a shutoff notice for delinquent electric bills, remained without power Thursday night after “customer-owned” equipment failed, according to DTE Energy.

Building management was ordered last week to pay a deposit for overdue electric bills by Monday to keep the lights; power went out Wednesday and had not been restored late Thursday.

The outage stemmed from “customer-owned equipment that cannot be accessed due to existing structural hazards inside the building,” said DTE spokesperson Dana St. Coeur.

“We feel for the residents of the Leland House and know how challenging these past few weeks have been,” she said.

About 40 tenants live in the building.

St. Coeur said DTE was “working closely with the city to ensure impacted residents are safe and have access to temporary housing.” The city did not immediately respond to questions about where the residents might have been relocated.

“We’re prepared to restore service as soon as the building owner can make the necessary repairs and ensure a safe environment,” St. Coeur said.

Last week, DTE said it would shut off power to the building over a delinquent payment; the building’s operator told residents they needed to move out before Dec. 3.

Judge Maria Oxholm of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division ordered Leland’s management to pay a $57,000 deposit on its overdue bill. Oxholm is presiding over the building’s federal bankruptcy case.

The 22-story building, built in 1927, is on the National Register of Historic Places but has been cited by the city for code violations in the past.

In a 2022 lawsuit, the city called it “unfit for human habitation” after an inspection found standing water in the basement, unreliable heating, missing smoke detectors and only one functional elevator.

As a result of the lawsuit, Leland’s management agreed to bring the building up to code.

The Leland House Limited Partnership has managed the building since Mike Higgins, its former owner, died in 2023.