City OK's up to $32M for USOC deal

    A city entity will borrow up to $32 million to fund Colorado Springs' costs of providing new downtown offices for the U.S. Olympic Committee, under a measure the City Council approved Tuesday.

    The measure, which also authorizes a series of lease agreements related to the USOC offices, enables the Springs to follow through on an agreement approved March 31 by the city, USOC and local real estate firm LandCo Equity Partners.

    That deal called for the city and LandCo to provide new offices for the USOC as part of a $53 million incentives package to keep the organization's headquarters in the Springs.

    Tuesday, the City Council voted 8-1 to authorize the issuance of certificates of participation, or COPs, by the Colorado Springs Public Facilities Authority, a nonprofit entity.

    The COPs will fund the authority's purchase of the upper five floors of a Land-Co building at 27 S. Tejon St. and the purchase of a former Utilities building on Cimino Drive. The authority will lease the buildings to the city, which will sublease the space to the USOC for $1 a year.