by Travis Mateer
I’m beginning to realize how unique the kind of reporting I’m doing actually is because people from OTHER STATES keep finding articles I’ve written and contacting me, which is why today’s post is about a developer I am VERY familiar with. Howdy, Nate! How’s business?
You might not know how BlueLine is doing because a few years ago they made the decision to get off social media, a decision this company was so proud of they wrote about it on their website. From the link:
Recently, the BlueLine Development Team has made the unanimous decision to get off Facebook and Instagram. BlueLine’s mission, first and foremost, has always been to create affordable housing opportunities for underserved populations. We care deeply about our mission, and our presence on social media does not impact that mission. BlueLine’s owner doesn’t even use Facebook, or engage in social media.
BlueLine works in a very niche field of housing development, so it makes sense that our news and updates reach a niche audience: the people who work with us, and understand our field of work. So in that spirit, we will continue to post updates about our development projects, but we are going to share that news on our site, going forward.
Please know that even if we’re not updating our socials anymore, we’re still here. We are working hard and doing our part. And sometimes we’re skiing.
This decision was made in December of 2021, less than a year after I started looking at this company for possible conflicts of interest with a local housing development in Missoula, and I have continued scrutinizing their schemes over the last few years. Here are some posts for additional context:
Uncovering A Conflict Of Interest With Missoula’s Latest Affordable Housing Project (June 5th, 2020)
More Context On Blue Line Development’s Affordable Housing Schemes For Missoula (May 24th, 2021)
A Compilation Of Links Regarding Missoula’s Reserve Street Homeless Camps And Who Benefits From Our Community Response (I’m Looking At You, Blue Line Development) (July 19th, 2021)
Blue Line Development’s Larchmont Golf Course Scheme And Rep. Danny Tenenbaum’s Curious Support (November 18th, 2021)
Missoula County Commissioners Consider Larchmont Golf Course Affordable Housing Blue Line Scam Later Today (December 16th, 2021)
Why Do You Need To Know Who Is Behind Spencer Properties LLC? (November 10th, 2022)
Another PPPP (Public Private Partnership Problem) Featuring Blue Line Development (July 28th, 2022)
Are you beginning to see why Nate Richmond might not want to expose himself to social media anymore? He has ME as a local journalist tracking his schemes, and the fact I have a decade of experience working in the non-profit sector with the exact same vulnerable populations this business man is making money off of ensures that MY perspective is a dangerously accurate one when it comes to unpacking the PR bullshit developers like this enjoy peddling while gobbling up subsidies like a panhandler gobbles meth.
So, what’s going on in Colorado, Nate? Because in April of 2021 it sounded like your Espero Apartments were going to be VERY special.
From the link:
The long-awaited supportive housing complex, Espero Apartments, is taking shape near Greenmount Cemetery on the west side of town.
Residents and visitors might have noticed the building’s framework coming together in recent months on a mountainside west of downtown Durango – the result of more than seven years of planning. Housing Solutions for the Southwest, which is developing the project alongside Blueline Development, celebrated the progress with an old rite of passage for construction projects: signing a beam within the building.
“It’s beyond exciting,” said Elizabeth Salkind, the nonprofit’s executive director. “When you’re working on a project for this long, there are moments when it doesn’t feel real. … To physically see its construction, for me, is life-changing.”
Yes, in April of 2021 Elizabeth Salkind was experiencing LIFE-CHANGING excitement over the construction of these apartments. If Salkind is still involved with this project, I wonder what she thinks of the claims I found in my in-box this morning. Here they are:
My friend sent me some of your articles about Blueline. These police and fire records are from Espero a Blueline owned and managed property that is a “traphouse” with bodies piling up. I have not updated the records but I know they have had no changes and police and fire are there often and a staff member died last month from a cardiac issue possibly set off due to fetynal poisoning. A month before that a young Autistic man named Tristan died of a fetynal Overdose, he was not even there 3 months.
1051 Avenida Del Sol Durango CO, 81301
The are so many stories of Blueline threatening and slandering anyone who voices concern. There is currently an investigation with HUD and the CO civil rights CORA division. I’ve had friends that were peer recovery coaches and counselors that were banned from the building and slandered for calling police while crimes were happening. Like telling the staff that when someone is threatening to kill others or themselves in a meth induced pyschosis that they can be held against their will in Colorado. She had a key given to her by the manager and then they put her on a list saying she was unauthorized to enter the building. This was a professional woman who was helping people.
There is a huge conflict of interest with the local housing authority, they are partial owners and they have 2 employees that work with blueline that act as gatekeepers or “thugs” they target tenants who complain about the chaos, but will ignore open drug use and drinking. One employee named Mariah was caught at least 2 times telling night security and tenants not to call the police if crimes were happening. She had no authority to do that, and still has her job, which is very odd.
I’m in the Denver area and did some digging with some housing advocates here and Blueline was kicked out of a Laurel House in Grand Junction (they had nothing nice to say besides they were Glad they were gone) they are no longer involved with Arroyo Village and they were also removed from a project called Salida Ridge.
In Durango the city owns the land and gave them a free lease for 99 years. The odd thing is according to the la plata county accessors office there are no taxes being paid and a commercial building doesn’t even exist.
Blueline had elevators out for months leaving elderly disabled people on 2nd and 3rd floors trapped in their apartments. A building less than 3 years old has mold and leaks. The building would be condemned if anyone cared to inspect it because of the meth and fentynal that tenants were smoking and making. Yet, they continue to get these monster grants from the state of Colorado.
Hopefully you are still reporting 🙂
Am I still reporting? Hell yes I am still reporting, because if I don’t expose the corruption lurking within the HOMELESS INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, no one else will. That seems apparent as more people find my articles and reach out to me.
One reason that exposing these housing exploiters is difficult is because they use dead homeless people as PR shields to cloak their real priorities. In Missoula, the homeless exploiters used Forrest Clay Salcido, but Colorado exploiters takes it a step further by creating an entire foundation around Delores Big Boy, a dead Lakota woman. Here’s the narrative cloak:
The Delores Project is named after Delores Big Boy, a Lakota woman, and long-time Denver resident who experienced homelessness and died due to complications from physical illness shortly before her forty-fourth birthday. Delores was known for her big heart and desire to nurture and care for others. When Delores was housed, she would often have several people in need of shelter staying in her apartment each night and her mentality was to care for as many people as she could with whatever she had. Delores passed away in 1999 and in the winter of 2000, The Delores Project opened in her name, with her values for hospitality and acceptance of others as the foundation for the new shelter.
Doesn’t this sound nice? The developers even got some blessings and a quilt for being SO AMAZING to build housing that reflect Delores’ values. Here’s more PR bullshit from the link:
When we opened our new building at Arroyo Village in 2019, we invited Delores’ family to the grand opening celebration. Many came from different states and graciously offered a blessing for our building and gifted us two Star Quilts. One is hanging in the Shelter Dining Room and one is in our supportive housing lobby, along with photos of Delores. It is an honor that the family chose to gift these to us in support of our work and our community. The Star Quilt symbolizes the Morning Star – the last and brightest star on the eastern horizon before dawn. The Morning Star represents a link between those who are living and those who have passed away.
Maybe having a “morning star” quilt is appropriate for a housing development that enables addiction. Do the units have free cable? Because, if they do, I have a program suggestion:
Lucifer Morningstar, known as Samael before his banishment from Heaven, is the titular protagonist of the urban fantasy comedy-drama series Lucifer (2016–2021). The character is portrayed by Welsh actor Tom Ellis and is an alternate version of Lucifer, one of the supporting characters of Neil Gaiman’s comic book series The Sandman, published by DC Comics; both are based on the Devil from Christianity. The series follows Lucifer after he abandons his post as the ruler of Hell in order to settle in Los Angeles, where he runs a nightclub with the demon Mazikeen and becomes a consultant for the LAPD.
Am I being overly dramatic with this popular culture reference? I don’t know, exploiting dead homeless people for money is pretty fucking low, and if that’s not what’s going on here, then please offer your alternative theories in the comments.
Thanks for reading!