Detroit Thermal emails sought Black residents to speak for Lafayette Park steam project

Emails entered as exhibits in a Wayne County Circuit Court lawsuit show a Detroit Thermal employee asked a 1300 East Lafayette co-op leader to recruit two Black residents to speak in support of the company's Lafayette Park steam project before a city hearing.

In a May 8, 2025, exchange, Sean Reed, Detroit Thermal's business development account manager, told Ed Broutin, secretary of the 1300 East Lafayette Cooperative board, that company spokesman Harvey Hollins III wanted four speakers from the co-op: Broutin, the board president, and two Black residents. Reed asked whether Broutin or another board member could help secure the speakers and offered to work with residents on refining their statements.

Broutin, a retired General Motors engineer, replied that the effort was moving. "Brought tears to my eyes it's so beautiful!" he wrote. "We are working to get as many residents as possible to the meeting. And we are playing the diversity card as best as we can get that going. Thanks for the update."

The emails show Detroit Thermal also shaped what supporters would say to the Detroit Historic District Commission. Reed wrote that Detroit Thermal general manager Rick Pucak had asked him to review Broutin's draft remarks. Reed sent back what he labeled a "Revised Statement," rewriting Broutin's appeal to commissioners. The revised remarks emphasized the racial and economic diversity of the high-rise.

The exchange came six days before a May 14, 2025, commission hearing on Detroit Thermal's plan to reconnect 1300 East Lafayette to its underground steam system after the high-rise's boiler system failed. The high-rise is outside the Lafayette Park/Mies van der Rohe Historic District, but the company wanted to excavate and install infrastructure across property belonging to the historic townhome cooperatives.

Detroit Thermal is a downtown steam utility owned by funds managed by a Paris-based infrastructure investment firm.

More than 60 residents spoke at the May 14 hearing. Supporters emphasized the high-rise's need for reliable heat. Opponents warned that construction could damage the neighborhood's landscape and mature trees and threaten the character of the National Historic Landmark. Commissioners did not approve the project that night and asked Detroit Thermal to return with additional information.

The Historic District Commission later approved the project with conditions in July 2025, but the dispute moved into court. Four Lafayette Park townhome associations sued Detroit Thermal and argued that the company had no right to use easements on their property to provide steam to a separate building outside the subdivision.

In June, Wayne County Circuit Judge Annette Berry issued a permanent injunction barring Detroit Thermal from entering or excavating on the townhome property for the project. Berry ruled that the old easements could not be expanded to serve 1300 East Lafayette and wrote that Detroit Thermal and the high-rise would have to find another solution.

In a statement, Detroit Thermal defended its coordination with the co-op. The company said residents at 1300 Lafayette East Cooperative asked for help and the company was happy to provide it. Detroit Thermal also said it strives to meet the needs of all Detroit communities and said the neighborhood has a complicated history tied to equitable housing because it was the epicenter of Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood, the predominantly Black district destroyed during urban renewal.

Broutin had raised that history publicly the day before his email about the diversity card. In a public comment to the commission, he said Lafayette Park was developed on land once occupied by Black Bottom.

The 1300 East Lafayette cooperative says it was designed to attract a diverse mix of residents and offers housing from affordable studios to three- and four-bedroom units. Its website also markets the high-rise as city living at its finest, promoting views, location, and 24-hour security.

The project remains blocked on the townhome property under Berry's injunction. Detroit Thermal and 1300 East Lafayette now must find another way to restore steam service to the high-rise.