Detroit Thermal emails show push to recruit Black residents as speakers for Lafayette Park steam project

Emails filed as exhibits in a Wayne County Circuit Court lawsuit show that a Detroit Thermal employee asked a 1300 East Lafayette cooperative leader to recruit two Black residents to speak in favor of the company’s controversial Lafayette Park steam project before a Detroit Historic District Commission hearing in May 2025. The co-op leader, board secretary Ed Broutin, replied, “We are playing the diversity card as best as we can get that going.”

The May 8, 2025, exchange between Detroit Thermal business development account manager Sean Reed and Broutin occurred six days before a commission hearing over Detroit Thermal’s plan to reconnect the 1300 East Lafayette high-rise to the underground steam system after the building’s boiler failed. The high-rise sits outside the Lafayette Park/Mies van der Rohe Historic District, but the utility needed to excavate and install infrastructure across property owned by the historic townhome cooperatives.

In the email, Reed wrote that Detroit Thermal spokesman Harvey Hollins III wanted four speakers to represent 1300 East Lafayette: Broutin, the board president, Amy, and “two African American residents.” Reed identified one possible speaker as Mrs. Love and asked whether Broutin or another board member could “help secure this.” Reed also offered to work with residents on “refining their statements.”

Broutin, a retired General Motors engineer, responded with enthusiasm. “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 also show Detroit Thermal officials helped shape what supporters would say. Detroit Thermal general manager Rick Pucak asked Reed to review Broutin’s draft remarks for the hearing, according to the exhibits. Reed then sent back a document 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 became part of the legal record in a lawsuit filed by four Lafayette Park townhome associations against Detroit Thermal. The residents argued that the company had no right to use easements on their property to provide steam to a building outside the subdivision.

At the May 14, 2025, hearing, more than 60 residents spoke. Supporters focused on the high-rise’s need for reliable heat. Opponents warned that construction could damage the neighborhood’s landscape, mature trees, and character as a National Historic Landmark. The commission 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 continued in court. In June, Wayne County Circuit Judge Annette Berry issued a permanent injunction barring Detroit Thermal from entering or excavating 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.

Detroit Thermal, a downtown steam utility owned by funds managed by a Paris-based infrastructure investment firm, defended its role in helping residents prepare for the hearing. “The residents at 1300 Lafayette East Cooperative asked us for help and we were happy to provide it,” the company said in a statement. “As a company born and run in Detroit, we strive to meet the needs of all Detroit communities, and we know that this neighborhood has had a complicated history ensuring equitable access to housing, given that it was the epicenter of Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood.”

The company also said it would continue to assist 1300 Lafayette East residents in their effort to obtain clean, affordable heat this winter “despite the opposition of a small but vocal group of their neighbors.”

The 1300 East Lafayette Cooperative says it was designed to attract a diverse mix of residents and offers housing ranging from affordable studios to three- and four-bedroom units. Its website also markets the building as “City Living at its Finest,” promoting views, location, and 24-hour security.

The day before the private email exchange, Broutin had already invoked the neighborhood’s racial history during public comment to the commission. He noted that Lafayette Park was developed on land once occupied by Black Bottom, the predominantly Black neighborhood destroyed during urban renewal.