Lender demands proof of $260M loan to save Future Legends

WINDSOR — Since October, those involved in the bankruptcy involving one of the limited-liability corporations that owns Future Legends Sports Complex have been waiting for proof that owner Jeff Katofsky had secured a $260 million loan to pay off all its bills and get construction back on track.

As the New Year approaches, they’re still waiting.

But lender U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union, which loaned Katofsky $45 million to finish the property in 2023, has filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Nevada to produce some proof of the loan.

A bankruptcy judge has agreed and ordered Katofsky and his purported new lender to appear  in a Jan. 22 hearing to determine if the new lender is in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena to testify.

Despite its many efforts to find proof of a $260 million loan — which would not be given to the actual debtor in the bankruptcy case, but to another of the seven limited liability companies that purportedly own Future Legends Sports Complex — there remains no proof of the existence of any loan.

The California attorney and owner of the Future Legends Sports Complex has been mired in court paperwork for a couple of years, having been sued by several subcontractors he hired to work on the complex. The complex was billed as a Mecca of sorts for youth sports, which was supposed to attract teams from all over the country, with its extensive fields and facilities, as well as dormitories, hotels and restaurants. So far, only the collegiate arena and the indoor soccer and basketball courts called the dome are operational. Still, the complex is on the hook for more than $56 million in unpaid work and loans taken out to complete the complex.

New Mexico-based U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union and Katofsky have gone back and forth in court documents, which resulted in a judge appointing a third-party receiver to manage three separate assets at the complex. Katofsky then sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for one of his LLCs, This allowed him to continue to operate the Future Legends complex, in which a 4-acre dome property is used for myriad sports from youth soccer and to adult pickleball in Windsor.

Meanwhile, Katofsky promised the courts that he has secured a $260 million loan from a Florida company called Phoenix Capital Solutions, verified only by an attorney’s statement filed within the courts. The funds were expected to be released beginning in November. To date, there are still no loan documents, and no correspondence at all from the purported new lender. But it’s already creating confusion as the loan is apparently to Future legends LLC, not Future Legends 5 LLC, which filed for bankruptcy protection.

Over the Christmas holiday, U.S. Eagle filed a motion to compel the lender to produce proof, paperwork, anything that would reveal if there were actually a loan on the books. 

“The Debtor has not provided any documentary evidence of the contracts relating to this funding; any evidence that Future Legends, LLC, has received this funding; or documentation of how this funding will allow the Debtor to reorganize and “pay off all existing creditors.” However, Mr. Katofsky has represented that the Debtor will be borrowing funds from Future Legends, LCC presumably from loan proceeds, to fund its anticipated plan of reorganization,” U.S. Eagle Richard Holley wrote in his motion to the court.

However, Future Legends 5 LLC’s bankruptcy attorney shot back: 

“The PHX Subpoena, in comparison, is irrelevant on its face. It seeks deposition testimony and the production of documents related to a loan provided by PHX to Future Legends, LLC (the “Borrower”). The Borrower is not a party to the bankruptcy case or any bankruptcy proceedings. Further, the Debtor is not a party to the loan and has no relationship to PHX. Accordingly, the PHX Subpoena seeks irrelevant and undiscoverable information,” according to a letter penned by attorney Jeanette McPherson of Fox Rothschild in Denver. Attorneys have until Jan. 8 to object to the motion to compel.

A current filing for Phoenix Capital Solutions does not seem to exist in the Florida Secretary of State records. Phoenix Capital Solutions Inc. was administratively dissolved in 2010; Phoenix Capital Solutions Corp. was administratively dissolved in 2015; both for not filing an annual report. Phoenix Capital Structured Finance Services LLC, also is inactive, having been administratively dissolved in 2014. Records indicate myriad companies with the name Phoenix. But there also is a Phoenix Capital Solutions filed in California.

Phoenix Capital Solutions does have a website, but it is loaded with stock art, even for the two employees it names, whose likenesses also occur throughout the internet selling clothes and watches. Much of its content appears to be an unfinished template, including dummy text in place of testimonials from customers it names. A call to the organization was not returned by deadline Dec. 30.

Meanwhile, the case involving a combined number of plaintiffs, including an August 2024 entry of U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union claiming $45 million in unpaid loans, is now in U.S. District Court in Denver. Katofsky removed the case to U.S. District Court after Weld District Court Judge Shannon Lyons ruled against him repeatedly. Lyons appointed a third-party receiver to take over the property guaranteed by U.S. Eagle’s loan, which prompted Katofsky to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for Future Legends 5 LLC. Lyons also granted one of the plaintiffs in the case triple damages of $600,000. 

Katofsky removed the case on Dec. 2; but the court-appointed receiver has moved to remand the case back to Weld District Court. That request has yet to be decided.

Meanwhile, in a Dec. 10 court filing in U.S. District Court  — having gone through litigation in the matter in Weld District Court for four months without mention of venue — Katofsky, moving ahead as his own lawyer —  has moved to have U.S. Eagle’s claims dismissed, claiming that the loan agreement required all legally disputed matters be resolved in a New Mexico court, where U.S. Eagle is based. The motion also states Katofsky has only minimal contact with Colorado, in that he is a California resident.

Case No. 24CV3338-NYW, Coloscapes Concrete v. Jaco General Contractor, Inc.,

Future Legends LLC, Ascent Realty Partners, Inc., Ignite Funding, LLC, Phaze Concrete, Inc., Brightview Landscape Development, Inc., and the Public Trustee of Weld County, consolidated with High Plains Steel Services vs. Future Legends LLC, Jaco General Contractor, Inc., Sport Court of the Rockies, LLC, Front Range Fire Protection, Inc., Techline Sports Lighting, LLC, Phaze Concrete, Inc., Equpmentshare.com, U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union., consolidated with U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union Third-Party Plaintiff v. Future Legends LLC, Future Legends 1 LLC, Future Legends 4 LLC, Jeff C. Katofsky, and Katofsky Family Trust, filed Dec. 2, 2024,  in U.S. District Court, District of Colorado.

Case No. 24-51031, Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, In re: Future Legends 5 LLC, in United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada, filed Oct. 15, 2024.

Case No., 2023CV030946, Coloscapes Concrete Inc et al v. Jaco General Contractor Inc et al, filed Nov. 22, 2023 in Weld District Court. Combined with case Nos. 2024CV30033 and 2024CV30470 also filed in Weld District Court. (US Eagle Federal Credit Union files cross-claim for $45 million; judge places Future Legends Sports Complex structures in receivership), in Weld District Court. Closed and removed to U.S. District Court. 

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