Tenants of Detroit’s historic Leland House plan to rally Saturday afternoon, accusing city officials of blocking them from retrieving their belongings after a sudden evacuation earlier this month and raising alarms about what they call a “hostile takeover” of the troubled and storied downtown building.
The rally is set for 1 p.m. Saturday outside the Leland House after residents were told they could not reenter to collect their possessions following a Dec. 10 power outage that left the 20-story apartment building without heat, lights, or elevators during extreme cold.
Tenants say they were given little warning and no meaningful opportunity to gather essentials when the Detroit Fire Department ordered the evacuation.
“They said, ‘Let’s go. You have to leave,’” says Daryl Stewart, a 67-year-old artist and percussionist who has lived in the building since 2012. “We didn’t have enough time to gather our wits.”
Stewart says he was forced to leave behind artwork, laptops, and his home recording studio. Other residents lost access to clothes, medication, mementos, and other personal items. Some tenants were even separated from their pets.
“I understand the building is being condemned, but it took them forever to get the animals out,” Stewart says.
Stewart says multiple city departments arrived a few hours after the building lost electricity and ordered tenants to evacuate immediately. He says residents were initially told they would be allowed to return.
“They said we could come back,” Stewart says.
Instead, the building was locked, and notices were posted warning residents they could not reenter.
“In the back of my mind, this might be it,” Stewart says. “It’s tear-jerking.”
Attorney Matthew Erard, who lives at the Leland House, says tenants were misled and then shut out of their homes entirely.
“When ordered to leave our apartments last Wednesday night, we were misled by city officials into believing that the building would remain accessible to residents the next day,” Erard tells Metro Times. “However, after clearing the building of occupants, the fire marshal locked the doors and posted notices barring anyone from reentering the building under threat of arrest.”
“As a result,” he adds, “we have all been deprived of virtually all our personal belongings, including essentials like clothes and medicine.”
Erard says confusion and finger-pointing between city departments has left residents with no path forward.
“From what we’ve been told, the fire marshal has no plans to allow residents to reenter the building to recover their possessions at any time, leaving over 30 households deprived of everything they own,” Erard says. “When calling the fire marshal’s office, we are each time referred to HRD [the Detroit Housing and Revitalization Department]. And when calling HRD, we are referred to the fire marshal. Each claims the other has sole power to address that issue.”
Erard and other tenants also raise serious allegations involving DTE Energy, which owns a large amount of property surrounding the Leland House, including much of the land bordered by Bagley, Third, Plum, and Grand River. Just before the power went out, Erard says, two residents “personally observed DTE personnel drilling on the area of the street right above the basement electrical equipment.”
“Given the reports that the electrical equipment shorted through water leaked from the street, that would seem to strongly suggest that DTE deliberately caused that to occur,” Erard says.
Erard points to a map circulated by a non-resident at a public hearing that shows DTE-owned parcels surrounding the Leland House property.
“I think the image provides a very clear illustration of what’s really behind this entire situation,” he wrote.
In a statement, DTE Energy denied the allegations.
“We feel for the residents of the Leland House and know how challenging these past few weeks have been,” the company said in a statement. “These accusations are baseless and couldn’t be further from the truth. This outage was caused by customer owned equipment that cannot be accessed due to existing structural hazards inside the building. We remain prepared to restore service as soon as the building owner can make the necessary repairs and ensure a safe environment.”
DTE Energy added, “We also remain committed to complying with all court orders throughout the bankruptcy proceedings.”
City officials also strongly dispute the tenants’ claims, saying the evacuation was necessary to protect lives and that residents are receiving extensive support.
In a statement, the City of Detroit said the fire department ordered the evacuation after a building-related power outage left residents without heat or light amid “dangerously cold conditions.”
“Situations like this underscore why the Fire Marshal Division exists,” Fire Marshal Don Thomas said in a statement Friday. “Our role is to identify hazardous conditions and act decisively to protect residents from circumstances that could quickly become life-threatening.”
City officials say the building remains unsafe to enter and that it is unclear whether residents will ever be allowed to return. The Housing and Revitalization Department says it has placed displaced tenants in hotels, including those with pet-friendly accommodations, and is providing food, transportation, and housing assistance.
HRD says it is supporting 31 households, with 28 staying in hotels and three staying with friends or family. Eleven households, the city says, have already been approved for permanent housing.
“Our team has been working relentlessly on behalf of impacted residents,” Chelsea Neblett, Director of Housing Solutions, said. “We have been in contact with households nearly every day, and we were already working with Leland House residents before the power outage occurred. Our focus remains on stability, dignity, and ensuring no one falls through the cracks during this incredibly difficult time.”
The city also says all pets left in the building have been rescued and reunited with their owners, though residents say the animals weren’t retrieved quickly enough. City officials insist Detroit Animal Care and Control “worked swiftly with local rescue partners to safely retrieve dogs and cats from the building.”
“All of these animals were clearly loved, and we knew how important it was to get them out safely and back to their families,” Crystal Perkins, director of Detroit Animal Care and Control, said. “Thanks to the quick coordination between our teams and our rescue partners, every dog and cat was rescued, and reunited with their owners. That outcome means everything.”
DTE Energy paid for hotel accommodations during the first 11 days after the evacuation, according to the city, which has since taken over those costs.
Tenants say Saturday’s rally is about more than access to belongings. For many, it is about the future of the Leland House itself, a once-grand 1927 hotel that has fallen into disrepair after years of neglect, lawsuits, and mounting debt.
The outage came a little more than a week after management notified tenants on Black Friday that they had a few days to move out because DTE Energy planned to cut electricity over unpaid electric bills. But on Dec. 4, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved a last-minute arrangement after the Leland House secured a $1.2 million short-term, high-interest loan. Judge Maria Oxholm barred DTE from cutting off power without her approval. Some of the money, she said, must be used to pay the DTE deposit and maintain casualty insurance.
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Correction, December 20, 2025 5:34 pm:
This article was updated with a response from DTE Energy.