A fundraiser this Friday will raise money for displaced Leland House tenants who remain in limbo more than a month after a major electrical failure forced residents out of the storied downtown Detroit building.
The event is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at the Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave. Organizers will collect monetary donations at the door, raffle off prizes, host information booths, and encourage “dancing for solidarity,” with entertainment provided by a lineup of DJs. The suggested donation is $10 to $20, and organizers say proceeds will be split evenly among 27 displaced residents.
Many of the tenants are staying at the Red Roof Inn in Southfield, where the city of Detroit is paying for hotel rooms.
Daryl Stewart, a 67-year-old artist and percussionist who has lived at the Leland since 2012, says residents plan to attend Friday’s fundraiser.
“We’re sticking together because we still don’t know what’s going on,” Stewart says, adding that it remains unclear whether residents will ever be able to return.
In fact, Leland House may be sold through an online auction, with the owner seeking court approval to auction the building and its parking lot, Crain’s Detroit reported Tuesday. Under the proposed process, a brokerage would oversee an online auction platform and a designated “stalking horse” bidder would set a floor price, with provisions for fees and expense reimbursements spelled out in court filings if that bidder is ultimately outbid.
The uncertainty has put added financial strain on tenants, Stewart says. Residents need money for basics like travel, groceries, and clothes, especially because many do not have cars and there are limited stores within walking distance of the hotel. Soon after the electricity shut off on Dec. 10, the city evacuated the building, forcing residents to leave with little time to retrieve most of their belongings.
“It’s expensive out here,” Stewart says. “Some things are walkable, but not everyone can walk like that. It’s like being in another world out here.”
Stewart says the displacement has also been difficult emotionally.
“Everybody loved that building,” he says. “It was home. It was our family.”
The fundraiser is separate from a GoFundMe that was launched in early December to support the Leland City Club, a longtime goth-and-techno venue inside the building. That online campaign drew scrutiny after questions surfaced about whether the proceeds went toward paying DTE Energy.
The fundraiser at the Lager House is being organized to directly support displaced residents, with donations collected at the door and split evenly among the 27 tenants, organizers say.
The fundraiser comes after the city’s fire marshal ordered a mandatory evacuation of the 20-story Leland House following a major electrical malfunction that knocked out heat, lights, and elevators. Tenants say melting ice and snow leaked into the basement, where the building’s electrical system is located, causing a shortage that left the building in the dark.
In a statement at the time, DTE said the outage was caused by customer-owned equipment and that the company was prepared to restore service once the building owner made repairs and ensured the property was safe.
City officials said Detroit’s Housing & Revitalization Department was on site supporting residents.
The evacuation followed weeks of turmoil at the Leland, including a late 2025 warning that DTE planned to cut electricity over unpaid bills, and a last-minute bankruptcy court arrangement that barred the Detroit-based utility from cutting off power without court approval after the building secured a $1.2 million short-term, high-interest loan.
Recently, someone broke a first-floor window at the vacant diner that was attached to Leland, and in a separate incident, thieves stole historic artifacts from the building.
Stewart says residents still have no idea what’s next and worry the building could suffer structural damage as it sits without electricity.
“It’s been really hard,” he says.
The DJ lineup at the fundraiser includes Coffee Black, Nova Blu, Something Blue, Big Joe Hix, and Mizz Chavez.
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