YOUR AD HERE »

Letter: The property manager at Flour Mill apartments has earned my respect

In regards to the recent article “Why are we even still here?” I would like to share part of my experience living at the Flour Mill apartments. While I strongly disagree with the rent increase under Birge & Held when considering Jon Sanders’ and B&H’s statements in an article about this property being workforce housing, I do consider the current on-property manager to be capable as compared to a recent assessment “… he’s not capable, he can’t keep up,” in the article published Sept. 18.

To be very clear, I respect the person who made that statement and Ski Town Commercial. They collectively gave me the opportunity of gaining a foothold in a great town, and I am beyond grateful for that. However, I can also say that general behavior among tenants noticeably improved during my tenancy from Sept. 1, 2021, to Aug. 31, directly because of the manager’s intervention.

Once I overheard the person living below me threaten to shoot his neighbor after a loud, profanity-laden exchange. The same person (then drunk, at the very least) threatened to knock me out in the parking lot in front of my sister who was visiting me in Steamboat for the first time. Both incidents occurred before B&H bought the Flour Mill.



After B&H acquired the Flour Mill, the current manager confronted this same threatening neighbor and was then assaulted by him. If someone is willing to risk their physical well-being to preserve a more peaceful, shared space for all tenants, then that person seems capable of fulfilling his current responsibilities.

If the current manager is overworked, perhaps B&H could consider hiring a more complete team to support him and manage its various properties in Steamboat and other small mountain communities (after it reconsiders its definition of affordable workforce housing compared to local wages for that same workforce)? I mean, nearly $2,000 for a 300 square foot converted motel room? Come on…



Chase Unruh

Steamboat Springs


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Steamboat and Routt County make the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.