FROM GOOD TO BAD TO UGLY

A look at events that have transpired in the city's attempt to keep the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs:

April/May 2007: Colorado Springs developers Classic Cos. and Nor'wood Development Group propose to construct 90,000 square feet of administrative office space and an arena for the USOC at InterQuest Marketplace north of town.

June 2007: USOC real estate consultant James Didion tours InterQuest Marketplace and Palmer Village, a Classic-Nor'wood residential and commercial project proposed for southwest downtown, but the USOC rejects the proposals, citing the need for new housing at the Olympic Training Center.

Aug. 28, 2007: In a letter to Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera and City Council, Didion writes the USOC needs free land to remain - 90,000 square feet of office space, 40,000 square feet in a former Colorado Springs Utilities building and 200 athlete housing units at the OTC.

Sept. 6, 2007: In a letter to Rivera, El Pomar Foundation chairman Bill Hybl and local real estate developer Jeff Smith, former USOC chief executive officer Jim Scherr writes the USOC will "seek proposals from other interested cities."

Sept. 17, 2007: A partnership headed by Colorado Springs investor Jack W. Mason sues Ray Marshall and LandCo LLC seeking a full accounting and detailed analysis of the financial records of a partnership in which Marshall is the majority partner and Mason's partnership is the minority partner. The suit is settled in December, but the dispute erupts a second time when Marshall sues Mason in June 2008. Marshall and Mason agreed to settle that suit, but more disputes arose so the suit is pending.

September 2007: Didion tours office buildings in Chicago, where the USOC is later offered free space at the Sears Tower and Navy Pier, according to Chicago media outlets.

Oct. 4, 2007: Colorado Springs officials acknowledge they've held months of behind-the-scenes talks with the USOC and asked four local developers for plans for USOC facilities, while USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel confirms it is "evaluating several different proposals."

Nov. 16, 2007: Rivera says the city has assembled an incentives package for the USOC that "meets every one of their needs. ... We think we have a fantastic offer on the table."

Jan. 24, 2008: Didion e-mails Rivera, telling him that after an "all-hands meeting" with various parties and lawyers, a deal to keep the USOC in Colorado Springs will soon be sent to the USOC board and City Council for approval.

Feb. 12, 2008: City Council approves the creation of four districts for local developer LandCo Equity Partners, laying the foundation for financing for the USOC headquarters building at 27 S. Tejon St. and a building at 19 N. Tejon St. that will temporarily house USOC employees.

Feb. 22, 2008: Ueberroth says the USOC, with "six viable locations" for its headquarters, wants "bulletproof" proposals.

March 12, 2008: Colorado Springs businessman Stephen Ducoff lets Rivera borrow his plane to fly to Grand Junction, where the Colorado Economic Development Commission agrees to contribute $500,000 if the USOC stays in town.

March 27, 2008: The USOC board meets via conference call, authorizing Ueberroth to proceed with LandCo's offer.

March 28, 2008: Colorado Springs officials release details of a pending agreement that would enable the city to retain the USOC for at least 25 years and continue benefiting from an estimated $341 million impact on the local economy.

March 31, 2008: The USOC agrees to keep its headquarters in Colorado Springs, accepting a $53 million incentives package 1½ hours after City Council approves the deal 7-1 in special session.

Sept. 26, 2008: The USOC relocates 39 of 330 employees from the OTC to temporary offices on Tejon.

Oct. 13, 2008: Leaders of national governing bodies of Olympic sports say their move to a renovated building at 30 S. Cimino Drive will be delayed at least three months.

Nov. 12, 2008: John Fiedler, one of five regional presidents of USOC headquarters building construction lender United Western Bank in Denver, notifies the city that the bank's directors on Nov. 10 declined to approve the certificate purchase, forcing the city to postpone the Nov. 14 closing into early December. United Western reaffirms its commitment two days later to continue funding its $10.75 million construction loan.

Nov. 19, 2008: Assistant City Manager Mike Anderson e-mails Marshall that the USOC will not sign the sublease on the headquarters building because LandCo had failed to meet its obligations to a separate agreement on improvements to the Olympic Training Center. USOC General Counsel Rana Dershowitz replies that $16 million in funding for the improvements "was supposed to be in escrow WELL BEFORE the USOC would have to sign any sort of sublease or wise commit" to the headquarters.

Nov. 24, 2008: USOC President Jim Scherr writes a letter to Marshall and Rivera saying that "LandCo's current inability or unwillingness to meet its contractual requirement to fund the (training center) improvements to a maximum of $16M have created some significant challenges."

Jan. 20, 2009: Didion sends an e-mail to Anderson and Fiedler outlining the USOC's "requirements to move forward," which include the city issuing certificates immediately; United Western loaning another $6 million against the bottom two floors of the headquarters building, plus another $4 million against future revenue from a series of metropolitan districts LandCo had formed; and $3 million in grants from El Pomar, to pay for the training center improvements. The message said the city also had to use its "best efforts" to raise the remaining $3 million. The deal is restructured over the next two weeks because of USOC board "resistance."

Feb. 6, 2009: Rivera writes to Scherr and Didion, telling them the city and LandCo can raise at least $13 million within 90 days for the first phase of OTC improvements.

Feb. 17, 2009: Didion e-mails Marshall, threatening to "advise the USOC to consider all options available to it in finding new headquarters space" if the city and LandCo don't generate the final piece of funding.

March 9, 2009: Assistant City Manager Mike Anderson meets with representatives from Copestone, LandCo and the USOC to discuss why the NGB building's budget has increased from $3 million to $3.2 million.

March 10, 2009: Marshall confirms LandCo and the city are renegotiating their deal with the USOC, blaming the city for not closing "on their piece of it in November, and all three parties are working through that right now."

March 13, 2009: Anderson e-mails Marshall, telling him change orders involving a fire-sprinkler system need to be authorized immediately or "the project budget is going to be blown again due to unnecessary, and avoidable, project delays."

March 17, 2009: In an e-mail, Rivera reveals $1.3 million in cost overruns on the headquarters building.

March 25, 2009: The 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office acknowledges Marshall is the subject of a criminal investigation.

March 26, 2009: Councilman Randy Purvis says the city should examine rumors that Rivera, vice president of investments at UBS Financial Services in Colorado Springs, had business dealings with Marshall that could pose a conflict of interest.

March 27, 2009: LandCo sues the city and the USOC in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleging it hasn't been reimbursed for renovations to the headquarters building.

March 30, 2009: City Council holds a three-hour, closed-door meeting to discuss the lawsuit filed by LandCo, deciding to stick with the project.

April 9, 2009: Councilman Jerry Heimlicher says the city is trying to raise $16 million for OTC improvements, which should have been covered by LandCo.

April 30, 2009: The USOC terminates its agreement with the city and LandCo.

May 5, 2009: El Paso County Treasurer Sandra Damron says more than $59,000 in past-due property taxes on the headquarters building hasn't been paid, while U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael E. Hegarty grants the city and the USOC more time to respond to LandCo's lawsuit so the parties can "focus their attention on settlement efforts."

May 7, 2009: Ron Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Central Bancorp Inc., files a complaint against Rivera with the city's Independent Ethics Commission, alleging Rivera had a conflict of interest by negotiating the USOC deal for the city.

May 18, 2009: The Independent Ethics Commission requests more "specificity" about Johnson's allegations against Rivera, including dates and supporting evidence.

May 21, 2009: The city withdraws from its agreements with LandCo to buy the top five floors of the headquarters building, saying LandCo failed to live up to the contracts.

June 9, 2009: Jan Doran announces she will recuse herself from the ethics commission when it hears the complaint against Rivera, an ally.

June 10, 2009: LandCo and the USOC say they have "resolved all disputes" stemming from the deal, and LandCo drops the USOC from the federal suit.

June 11, 2009: The city files a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it was filed in the wrong court.

June 12, 2009: An attorney for LandCo Chairman Ray Marshall says Rivera had a business relationship with Marshall, whose company beat out three developers for the $53 million deal. The financial connection between the mayor and Marshall is disclosed during a meeting of the ethics commission.

July 2, 2009: Mayor Lionel Rivera and Assistant City Manager Mike Anderson have been dropped from a federal lawsuit filed in March by the lead developer in the now-defunct deal to keep the U.S. Olympic Committee from leaving the city, court documents state.

July 30, 2009: In their latest attempt to keep the U.S. Olympic Committee from moving its headquarters out of Colorado Springs, city officials Thursday unveiled a revamped, $53 million incentives package to provide the sports organization with new downtown offices and upgrades to its local Olympic Training Center. The agreement is expected to require taxpayers to ante up millions of dollars more while it cuts ties with financially troubled developer LandCo Equity Partners. The USOC board gave tentative approval Thursday pending review by its management team and the city. At the same time the revised USOC agreement was announced, the city and LandCo released terms of a settlement of a lawsuit LandCo had filed four months ago in federal court in Denver.

Aug. 3, 2009: The city may mortgage the Police Operations Center and possibly a fire station under a new plan to borrow nearly $31 million to pay for new facilities for the U.S. Olympic Committee. Pledging the police headquarters building on South Nevada Avenue and an undisclosed fire station as collateral in an effort to keep the USOC anchored in Colorado Springs for the next 30 years is among the key differences between the old agreement and the proposed agreement between the city and the USOC.

Aug. 10, 2009: Mayor Lionel Rivera has been cleared of all wrongdoing by the Independent Ethics Commission for his involvement in last year’s deal to build a headquarters and other facilities for the U.S. Olympic Committee, a deal that was awarded to a firm headed by a former client.

Aug. 11, 2009: The Colorado Springs City Council voted 8-1 minutes ago to approve a deal that will give the U.S. Olympic Committee a new headquarters in return for a long-term committment to remain in the city. The dissenting vote was cast by Darryl Glenn. Council approval of the new agreement requires a bigger commitment of taxpayer dollars and starts the clock ticking on various deadlines, including raising $4.5 million in community donations – $1.5 million of it by the end of the year – or the agreement falls apart again.