The US Olympic Committee wants 90,000 square feet of prime downtown office space and 200 new residences for athletes if it’s going to remain in Colorado Springs.

City officials invited four Springs real estate companies to submit proposals on providing such facilities — part of an effort by community leaders to dissuade the organization from moving its administrative offices and an Olympic Training Center out of the city.

Two of the firms said Monday that they’ve responded.

Realty Development Services has said the USOC could move to Cooper Tower, a more than 20-story retail, hotel and residential building the company has proposed for Nevada Avenue and Kiowa Street.

Classic Cos. also has submitted a proposal, but Chairman Jeff Smith declined to elaborate on the plan.

The city has told developers the USOC needs a mix of dormitory-style rooms, apartments and townhomes for single and married athletes.

The USOC also needs parking for 240 employees at its downtown offices and would like retail space as part of any project, with an anchor in place by April 30. Construction on offices would begin June 18.

The Gazette examined a copy of the document sent to developers after city officials, including Mayor Lionel Rivera, denied the newspaper’s request for the information. City officials also refused to provide copies of correspondence with the USOC.

City officials cite a portion of the Colorado Open Records Act that they say allows such information to be kept private if parties outside the city expect the communications to remain confidential.

First Amendment attorney Steve Zansberg, who represents The Gazette, said it’s difficult to accept at face value the city’s assertion the USOC wanted all of its communication to be kept confidential.

The USOC acknowledged this month it was evaluating relocation proposals from other cities, which has sent Springs city officials and community leaders scrambling to assemble a proposal to keep the USOC here. They fear losing millions annually in economic impact and the prestige that comes with being the headquarters city for the organization that oversees the nation’s Olympic movement.

The possibility of the USOC’s move also has drawn scrutiny from U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., who sent a letter Monday to USOC Board Chairman Peter Ueberroth that spelled out the merits of remaining in Colorado Springs.

Salazar also said he would “fight to block any possible transfer of the headquarters out of the area.” Salazar couldn’t be reached to explain what he could do to keep the USOC in the Springs.

USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel declined to comment on Salazar’s letter, except to say decisions on the USOC’s future will be based on a need to evaluate its facilities and not with dissatisfaction over the Springs as a home.

The USOC’s board meets Friday in Houston, a regularly scheduled gathering that will be part of the USOC’s annual Olympic Assembly, Seibel said.

Board members are expected to be updated on the status of new facilities, but they won’t immediately evaluate proposals or make decisions, Seibel said. The USOC has no timetable, he added.

Seibel also declined to identify which other cities have made proposals. A Chicago business publication reported last week that a top USOC representative toured office space in that city.

Springs City Council members said the USOC wanted them to submit a proposal by mid-October that would commit the city to finding new space. Rivera wouldn’t comment Monday on whether the city has submitted a proposal; Seibel said he didn’t know if one has been received.

Attracted by low rent and high altitude, the USOC moved its headquarters to the Springs from New York City in 1978, settling in offices on Boulder Street, west of Union Boulevard and in the center of the Springs. The move came one year after the USOC established an Olympic Training Center next door at the site of the former Ent Air Force Base. The site covers 34 acres.

City officials and community leaders have talked about the need to cement the USOC’s ties with the Springs by finding space to replace the organization’s aging and, in some cases, dilapidated offices.

City Council members have said the goal is to relocate the USOC headquarters to a new location in the city, which would allow expansion of the Olympic Training Center on its current Boulder Street site.

“I think we can provide the USOC exactly what they’re looking for,” Rivera said Monday, refusing to say more. “So frankly, I don’t see any need for them to look elsewhere.”

Later Monday, Rivera attended a reception at the Penrose House to welcome the 2008 U.S. Olympic boxing team to Colorado Springs. The team will train at the training center through the Olympics next year.

Asked how he will make a pitch to the USOC, Rivera said, “I’ll answer their questions. We’re going to meet their needs, just as they’ve laid them out to us. We’re going to make them happy. We’re going to meet their needs, and we have the resources to do that.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0228 or rich.laden@gazette.com