City Council member calls for investigation of USOC developer dealings

Colorado Springs city staffers should investigate financial and legal issues swirling around developer Ray Marshall and his LandCo Equity Partners to determine if Marshall can fulfill his part of a year-old agreement to provide new facilities for the U.S. Olympic Committee in downtown Colorado Springs, Councilman Randy Purvis said today.

Purvis' call for an investigation comes on the heels of 4th Judicial District Attorney Dan May saying this week he had launched a criminal investigation into Marshall and LandCo activities. May has declined to elaborate on the investigation.

Purvis' statements also follow news stories detailing a series of liens, a pair of lawsuits and a foreclosure action filed against Marshall in connection with his real estate and business dealings.

City Council members tentatively have agreed to hold a special 4 p.m. meeting Monday to discuss the status of the USOC deal. That deal, approved by the council, the USOC and Marshall nearly one year ago, calls for $53 million in incentives to be provided to the USOC in exchange for the organization keeping its headquarters in the Springs for the next 25 years. Marshall's development company is constructing a new USOC headquarters downtown as part of that agreement.

Asked if such an investigation should examine rumors that Mayor Lionel Rivera, vice president of investments at UBS Financial Services in Colorado Springs, had business dealings with Marshall that would pose a conflict of interest, Purvis said yes.

"Anything and everything," Purvis said.

Purvis said he first heard the rumors in recent weeks. However, such rumors surfaced shortly after the deal was announced last year. The mayor could not be immediately reached today for comment. Asked a year ago about the rumors, Rivera told The Gazette he had no conflict of interest with Marshall or anyone else involved in the USOC agreement.

Purvis and Council members Scott Hente and Margaret Radford said today they knew nothing about the district attorney's investigation into Marshall until it was disclosed earlier this week. An angry Purvis said council members should have been told by Marshall or his representatives.

"Absolutely," Purvis said. "It raises a lot of questions that need to be answered by Mr. Marshall and the city staff, everyone who was connected with putting the deal together and to see where we go from here in terms of reaching the goal, which is making the USOC satisfied and getting them a new headquarters building."

Hente echoed Purvis, saying he's equally frustrated because he's learning for the first time in recent days and weeks about Marshall's problems.

"I don't like reading in the paper, I don't like being surprised to find that a guy we've entered into a relationship with is under investigation," Hente said. "I don't like finding that out. I don't like finding out that he's got financial problems in other areas."

Marshall and LandCo issued a statement Wednesday indicating the district attorney's investigation stems from allegations made by disgruntled former business partners. The statement said the allegations have no validity.

LandCo is in the midst of completing construction of a six-story office building at 27 S. Tejon St., five floors of which the USOC is expected to occupy after the work is finished July 30. LandCo also is finishing remodeling a former Springs Utilities building in southwest downtown that will house offices for several Olympic-themed amateur sports groups, known as national governing bodies.

As part of the agreement with the USOC, a non-profit city entity is expected to borrow $27.5 million to fund the purchase of those buildings, then sell them back to the city, which will lease them to the USOC and the amateur sports groups at nominal yearly fees.

Meanwhile, Marshall has agreed to provide another $16 million worth of improvements at the USOC's training center in the Springs; Marshall is supposed to fund that work on his own; no construction has begun on the training center improvements.

Check gazette.com and The Gazette for more developments.

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