Bankruptcy judge stops Windsor’s attempt to shut down Future Legends

WINDSOR — Amid an ongoing bankruptcy in the embattled Future Legends Sports Complex in Windsor, the owner reports that he has secured $300 million in new funding to pay off all creditors and get the project back on track, but he first had to convince the Town of Windsor to extend the project’s temporary occupancy permits for an eighth time.

On Thursday, Jeff Katofsky turned to a federal bankruptcy judge to compel the city to extend those permits, which he and attorneys said were vital to obtaining new funding to pay off the project’s debt and reorganize.

In a telephone hearing, the judge granted a temporary injunction for two weeks only, which will allow business as usual at the complex, including the professional soccer team Colorado Hailstorm’s league playoffs scheduled this weekend. A secondary hearing will be scheduled later, giving Windsor’s attorney more time to respond. He was given not quite a day to respond before the emergency hearing.

Town officials notified Katofsky earlier this week they did not intend to renew the temporary occupancy permits, which were due to expire Thursday and which had been extended seven times already with no progress on public health and safety issues at the complex. Katosfky was seeking a renewal for another 90 days, which would allow tournaments and scheduled events to continue through the end of the year. But the town said the issues had persisted for more than a year, and the public has complained about the issues as well.

Katosfsky and his Nevada attorney were able to convince the judge that allowing those permits to expire would not only result in Katofsky losing the $30-million to $40-million-valued Hailstorm franchise, but his impending new funding.

Katofsky has reported that he has secured a $260 million loan from Phoenix Capital Solutions over the next 12 months beginning in early November. He reports that he will close on another $40 million loan in the next two weeks with a different lender. That loan, court documents state, is “earmarked, in part, to complete the clubhouse which is attached to the dome.”

Both loans, Katofsky’s court documents report, are contingent on the temporary occupancy permits being in place.

The unfinished sports complex has been stalled for the last year, as contractors and subcontractors and lenders filed liens and lawsuits claiming unpaid invoices and loans totaling more than $56 million. A Weld District Court Judge appointed a receiver to protect three structures — the dome, and the unfinished arena and dormitories — on the property, which were backed by a $45 million loan from New Mexico-based U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union.  

But Katofsky filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on the LLC that owns the dome. Katofsky said the filing would prevent the receiver from taking over the property, which would help him secure additional funding.  Katofsky has structured ownership of all the properties under seven different LLCs.

The receiver, however, noted for the court numerous unpaid bills on the dome property, including internet, electricity, water and unpaid property taxes, as well as allowing the facility’s insurance to lapse, all while hosting hundreds of children daily in the dome for sports practices and games.  

Katofsky filed within the court paperwork that he had secured insurance on the property that is good through September 2025.

The dome also is home to the professional soccer team, the Colorado Hailstorm. Katofsky also owns the minor-league baseball team, the Northern Colorado Owlz, which practice and play in the only fully completed structure on the property, the collegiate dome, also known as 4Rivers Stadium.

All parties involved in Thursday’s hearing will have to return to court for further review of the issues involved within the next two weeks.

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