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Public speakers and council press for help as Leland Hotel tenants lose power, access to belongings
Summary
Advocates called on Detroit City Council to investigate a power cut at the Leland Hotel and secure tenants’ right to return and access personal property; councilmembers said hotel stays would be extended and that the matter is now referred to the city’s law department.
Advocates and councilmembers urged immediate action on behalf of residents of the Leland Hotel, where tenants have been displaced after power was cut and access to upper floors was limited by nonworking elevators.
Adam Barrett, of the Tax Justice and Moratorium Now Coalition, said the cut power prevented tenants from retrieving personal items and described the situation as “a clear case of deliberate neglect and to do an end run around the legal eviction process,” alleging the blackout was used to push residents out and facilitate gentrification or utility seizure. He also said the building was “half 1,000,000 or so behind on property taxes” and urged an independent investigation into why power was shut off.
Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero said the city has secured an extension of hotel stays for tenants and that protocol for temporary housing runs on two-week intervals; she said staff are working to contact the judge handling the matter so tenants can regain access to belongings and that restoring access—given the elevator outage—is her top priority. “That is my number 1 priority,” Santiago Romero said, adding that she has contacted fire, HRD and law.
Pro Tem Young said the city typically follows a regulatory path—VC determinations and HRD review, then pursuing housing-related penalties or federal program remedies if necessary—and offered to work with advocates and staff to pursue those steps. Later in the meeting Pro Tem Young reported HRD staff had referred all matters regarding the Leland Hotel to the city law department for legal review.
Councilmembers and staff did not announce a formal vote or ordinance. The council said it would continue coordinating with HRD, fire and the law department; advocates pressed for an independent investigation and explicit protections for tenants’ right to return.
The council moved on to additional public comments after the update; no formal motion or vote on the Leland Hotel was recorded during this session.
