USOC likely to stay in Springs

City and committee agree on $53 million incentives package

The Gazette

Originally published 06:12 p.m., March 28, 2008
Updated 06:12 p.m., March 28, 2008

The U.S. Olympic Committee appears likely to keep its headquarters in Colorado Springs.

A $53 million incentives package that would provide the USOC with new offices in downtown Colorado Springs, major upgrades to the organization's Olympic Training Center in the heart of town and new downtown space for several amateur sports groups will be voted on by the City Council at a special meeting at 12:45 p.m. Monday, city officials said today.

Mayor Lionel Rivera said he's optimistic the USOC board will then accept the city's package, which would keep the organization in the Springs where it's been since 1978.

A source familiar with discussions between the city and USOC said the USOC board is expected to act on the city's offer immediately after the council's action.

A news conference for 2 p.m. Monday at the USOC's current Boulder Street headquarters already has been scheduled.

"The USOC has asked us to move forward and finalize our offer," Rivera said. "It's not an official offer until we vote on it and send it to them."

Darryl Seibel, USOC spokesman, said Friday morning that the USOC board and its top management met via conference call Thursday night.

The board made no decision Thursday, nor was it asked to by its management, he said.

"A formal proposal has not yet been accepted by the USOC," he said.

The financial offer to the USOC, spelled out in a news release city officials issued Friday, includes public and private financing.

The city would provide $27 million in low-interest financing for the project, and the state of Colorado would contribute $500,000 to the USOC. LandCo Equity Partners, a Springs real estate company whose downtown building would become home for the USOC's offices, would arrange for nearly $23.5 million in private funding. The Springs-based El Pomar Foundation, one of Colorado's largest charitable trusts, is contributing $2 million.

In addition, Rivera would lead a community fund-raising campaign for the project. It's not clear how much money he would hope to raise and by when.

Monday's council meeting will cap months of behind-the-scenes negotiations between city officials, local developers and the USOC, which oversees the nation's Olympic movement and is considered one of the more prestigious organizations in the city. With about 400 employees, the USOC and Olympic related sports groups contribute nearly $316 million a year to the local economy, Springs economist Dave Bamberger has estimated.

Last fall, USOC officials announced they were evaluating proposals from other cities on the future of its headquarters. In February, USOC board chairman Peter Ueberroth announced the organization was weighing proposals from Colorado Springs and two other locations. Chicago news media have reported the USOC was considering moves to the Sears Tower office building and Navy Pier in that city's downtown.

According to the city's offer released today:

The USOC would move its administrative offices from Boulder Street to the six-story Stratton Pointe office building planned for the northeast corner of Colorado Avenue and Tejon Street in downtown Colorado Springs.

LandCo, a local development company, would provide the USOC with 50,000 square feet of free, temporary office space at a building it owns at 19 N. Tejon St. The temporary office would be available for the USOC by Aug. 15.

A skybridge would span Colorado Avenue and connect the new Stratton Pointe building to the city parking garage, where the city is making 240 spaces available for the USOC. The city's Parking Administration fund — a city operation that supports itself through the collection of parking fees — would contribute $330,000 toward the skybridge.

The Olympic Training Center in the Springs, currently on the 34-acre campus at Boulder Street and Union Boulevard, would be redeveloped.