USOC chief Streeter pessimistic about city hitting first deadline
Acting CEO says lawsuit is hampering issuance of COPs
CHICAGO • The acting chief executive officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee remains skeptical about the city’s ability to generate the first piece of financing in a reworked deal that would keep the USOC in Colorado Springs for the next 30 years.
Stephanie Streeter has her doubts the city will hit a Sept. 25 deadline to issue as much as $38 million in certificates of participation, a form of borrowing that doesn’t require voter approval, since Colorado Springs lawyer Lindsay Fischer’s lawsuit is preventing the city from obtaining a bond rating and insurance for the agreement.
“I don’t know whether the time frame can be met,” Streeter said Wednesday after opening the U.S. Olympic assembly with a 25-minute speech at a downtown Chicago hotel.
The COPs are supposed to be used to purchase a six-story headquarters building at 27 S. Tejon St. If they’re not issued on time, the USOC could pull out of the deal, and LandCo Equity Partners, the project’s original developer, would be entitled to reinstate the lawsuit it filed in March in U.S. District Court in Denver.
Asked about the USOC’s action if the city misses the deadline, Streeter said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. ... We have an agreement. There are deadlines in place. We’re going to wait and see what the city does.”
