Springs Leaders Express Concerns Over USOC Project

By Jon Karroll

COLORADO SPRINGS – Colorado Springs city leaders are expressing some concerns over the U-S-O-C’s downtown headquarters project.

The concerns stem from a recent article in the Colorado Springs Business Journal about LandCo, one of the partners in the multi-million dollar project. The article mentions foreclosure proceedings and other legal issues involving LandCo. Colorado Springs Vice Mayor Larry Small says those issues do not affect the downtown project, but he says he is concerned about LandCo’s commitment of $16 million in improvements at the Olympic Training Center. “Ultimately they still have that responsibility and how we work out the payment of that money is the subject of negotiations now, but that’s still their responsibility under the agreement, they’re not backing away from it, they’re just having difficulty with it” says Small. Those improvements include housing for both single and married athletes, new dining facilities and a new entrance off of Union Boulevard.

Small says the delay could actually end up saving money on bonds the city plans to issue next month for the project. “We were expecting to be paying somewhere around six and a half, seven percent on these bonds, now those bond rates are down near four percent so hopefully we’re gonna come out ahead on this deal” says Small.