USOC employees will leave temporary housing and return to OTC

Dozens of U.S. Olympic Committee staffers working in temporary offices in downtown Colorado Springs will soon return to the Olympic Training Center, with the organization opting to relocate as it restructures a deal that would keep its headquarters in town.

Within the next month, 39 USOC employees, primarily in finance, member services and audit, are expected to vacate 50,000 square feet of office space at 19 N. Tejon St. that they've inhabited since September.

The space was provided by LandCo Equity Partners, which was supposed to develop a $23.5 million, six-story headquarters building at 27 S. Tejon St. and deliver $16 million in OTC upgrades in an agreement it struck with the city and the USOC last March.

Delays in financing caused the deal to unravel, and LandCo sued the city and the USOC in March in U.S. District Court in Denver, alleging it hasn't been reimbursed for renovations to the headquarters building. On Wednesday, it dropped the USOC from the lawsuit, but it has yet to resolve its issues with the city.

"Because the situation is so fluid, we're moving our staff back," USOC acting chief executive officer Stephanie Streeter said Friday at the OTC after presiding over her first board meeting since she replaced Jim Scherr in March.

Seven board members - John Hendricks and Mike Plant skipped the 4-hour meeting - were updated on the headquarters project, however, no action was taken related to a possible move out of Colorado Springs, where the USOC has been based since 1978.

"The USOC has been released from all disputes, so we're sort of sitting on the sidelines," Streeter said. "The city and LandCo have to resolve their disputes. We're hopeful they do that. We would like to remain in the Springs, but we will obviously look at all options."

Streeter called LandCo's dismissal of the USOC from litigation a "significant factor" in its ability to move forward with a new deal. Asked about reopening relocation talk, she said, "We haven't set any deadline. We're just patiently waiting for things to work out."

In other USOC news:

• The board allocated $16.5 million for national governing bodies of eight winter sports, $1.4 million more than was originally budgeted. That brings the total funding for winter NGBs to $58.2 million the past four years, a 55-percent increase from 2003-06.

• The USOC is in discussions with Bank of America, which isn't renewing a four-year sponsorship worth between $12 million and $15 million.

"We're still working with Bank of America to put together a solution that works for everybody," Streeter said.

• The U.S. Olympic Network, a cable channel similar to the NFL Network, won't launch before February's 2010 Olympics. Streeter said USOC officials are "still talking about it."

• If Chicago loses a 2016 bid, the USOC won't try for the 2018 Winter Games.

"We don't believe we can put something together that would be credible," Streeter said.