The price of politics/ Proponents say moving U.S. Olympic Committee

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 20, 2003 | by MERI-JO BORZILLERI

Speculation about a U.S. Olympic Committee move intensified recently when the organization became the center of a turf battle between U.S. senators arguing about Olympic reform.

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., wants legislation promising the USOC won't move from Colorado Springs, but Sen. John McCain, R- Arizona, chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee, is balking at the idea.

Campbell said McCain called his request to make Colorado Springs the USOC's permanent home "provincial and Proponents say moving U.S. Olympic Committee from Springs would raise profile, cash - but at what cost?

just plain stupid."

Politics is only one part of the complex discussion of the USOC's future structure and home. Two more are public profile and money.

Proponents of moving the headquarters, such as U.S. International Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz, say the USOC should be in a larger city, closer to potential sponsors and high-profile marketing and media organizations. The theory is such connections would make the organization more visible and bring in more corporate cash.

Opponents say it's not necessary to move, arguing the cost of living, especially regarding real estate. Critics of the organization say it spends too much money on administrative costs now and that a move back to New York would only exacerbate the problem and mean less money for athletes. Also, many of the USOC's corporate sponsors are not located in New York.

Just what would it cost to move the USOC from Colorado Springs to New York?

More than the committee pays now, that's for sure.

When the Air Force closed Ent Air Force base in the 1970s, it leased it to the city, which subleased it to the USOC for $1 in 1977.

A look at a possible move of the USOC's executive staff from its 34-acre campus at the corner of Boulder Avenue and Union Boulevard to New York shows costs would jump dramatically in everything from salaries and dining out to housing and entertainment.

A move would require finding office space for about 250 people in Manhattan because the entire operation would not be shifted to New York. The U.S. Olympic Training Center probably would remain because some athletes want to train at high altitude. The 20 or so national governing bodies here probably would stay

Offices with 75,000 square feet of space in midtown Manhattan would rent for about $3 million a year, said Ivan Hillman, senior managing director at Insignia/ESG in New York, one of the nation's largest commercial real estate firms.

"That would not include electricity at about $2 per square foot," Hillman said, or annual "escalations" built into every lease that include real estate taxes and operating expenses. That comes to, roughly, another $1 per square foot.

Between rent, electricity and escalations, that space would cost about $3,225,000 a year.

And there is more to consider.

"If it's a long-term lease, the landlord structures the base rent to go up every five years," Hillman said.

Ever the salesman, Hillman offered some good news.

On a budget? Limited to a paltry $2 million a year?

"I tell you we could find them space for that," Hillman said.

USOC employees transferring to New York would experience not only culture shock but sticker shock when it comes to the cost of living.

Salaries would be higher in New York, but they'd have to be.

A USOC employee making $45,143 per year here would need to make $100,000 in New York to maintain a similar living standard, says ACCRA, a national nonprofit group that studies economic development.

Median cost for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Colorado Springs is $178,000, said Paul Turner of Turner Commercial Research.

Ask what that would buy in New York, and the answer is peals of laughter.

"You can't buy one room for $178,000," said Roberta Benzilio, executive vice president of William B. May, one of Manhattan's oldest residential real estate firms. "The only thing you'll find for under $200,000 in Manhattan is a one-room wreck."

Buying a one-room studio, about 600 square feet, costs about $300,000, Benzilio said.

That doesn't include $600 to $800 a month in maintenance fees.

A two-bedroom apartment? Try $1 million, on average.

Want to rent?

One Colorado Springs couple moving to Manhattan will rent a two- bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with a doorman for about $4,000 a month.

Keeping their car will cost an additional $400 to $600 a month for parking.

In Colorado Springs, doormen are scarce. But two-bedroom/two- bathroom apartments aren't.

Monthly rental would be about $900 and includes free parking.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0259 or merijo@gazette.com

A USOC move to Manhattan?

Cost comparisons between Colorado Springs and Manhattan in wake of a hypothetical move

Colorado Springs New York

Income needed for similar living standards

$45,143 $100,000

Commercial real estate, per square foot

$20.98 (downtown) $50.64 (midtown)

Home price

$178,000 $750,000 (2 br. co-op

(house, median cost) (apartment, average cost)