December 11, 2025
Tenants say building management didn’t turn on the heat until weeks after temperatures dropped.
A broken boiler has left many units at Detroit’s Alden Towers without heat for more than a month, forcing tenants in 98 apartments to rely on space heaters.
The faulty heating system is among many safety and maintenance concerns in the historic building located at 8100 East Jefferson Avenue near the city’s east river district.
The Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) issued an emergency correction order on Nov. 24 after inspecting and confirming that one building in the four-tower complex has not had heat since Nov. 4. Tenants say building management, Friedman Real Estate, didn’t turn on the heat until Nov. 1. Still, it went out again three days later and has been out ever since.
“We have been aware of isolated heat complaints in one of the towers at Alden Towers, but were unaware of it being a widespread issue until just recently,” BSEED spokesperson Georgette Johnson told Metro Times in a statement. “Last week, we wrote an emergency correction order for the landlord to address the issues. As of Monday, the issue still had not been fixed. This is unacceptable. Yesterday, we issued tickets to the owner in the amount of $2,000 and will continue to write tickets daily until the issue is addressed and tenants have reliable heat. We also are working with the Law Department on potential legal action against the owner of the building.”
According to residents, the apartment complex includes heat in the rent.
“We’re still paying rent, but we haven’t had heat around here,” resident Nandi Bailey told Fox 2 News, Detroit.
“You don’t even want to shower some days,” Bailey told the outlet.
Tenants say management told them to use multiple space heaters because the building couldn’t provide heat. However, Bailey states that she and some tenants are worried that the new heaters will significantly raise their electric bills and increase the risk of fires. Temperatures are expected to drop as low as 5 degrees this weekend.
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