Bankruptcy judge gives Future Legends three more months to fix site issues

WINDSOR — A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has given Future Legends another three months to fix health and safety issues lingering at the Future Legends Sports Complex in Windsor.

After a two-hour hearing Wednesday and another hearing on Friday, Jan. 10, Judge Hilary Barnes extended an injunction preventing the town from pulling the temporary occupancy permits that allow the continued operation of the complex until April 15. Both the town and Future Legends in the meantime will have to file joint status reports on Feb. 15 and March 15.

The town in November sought to pull the temporary permits, which it had extended seven times before, due to several health and safety issues that needed to be fixed. But pulling the permits, owner Jeff Katofsky argued, would kill the planned funding he said he recently secured. He took it to the courts and received an injunction preventing the town from pulling the permits. The injunction was to expire on Jan. 11.

In arguments this week, Future Legends attorneys hammered on the idea that the Town of Windsor was changing the rules of the game, preventing the complex’s new electrician from working on the site without new plans.

“I think what we continually hear is the town has stated its position, ‘We’re done. We’ve been asking them to make these fixes for months, and we say no more.’  But there’s no basis for this because Future Legends is trying to fix these issues,” said attorney Jeanette McPherson. “Things don’t go smoothly always, and that’s why this bankruptcy is in place. And bankruptcy is designed to address issues where the debtor can have time to get things fixed. The town  just doesn’t seem to be able to get past that.”

Town attorneys argue that anything Future Legends does is more of a delay tactic, with no progress on the complex. McPherson said they installed four temporary lights and have planned to bring in two more.

At present, the dome portion of the property — an indoor property with soccer fields and courts — is being used by youth sports leagues, and Katofsky’s semi-professional teams, the Hailstorm and the Rain soccer teams, and the Northern Colorado Owlz baseball team. The dome also is the only money-maker on the property and is the subject of the bankruptcy proceeding with Future Legends 5 LLC, to which Katofsky transferred the dome’s ownership.

The city in July 2024 noted several issues on the entire complex that need to be fixed for health and safety concerns to continue the temporary occupancy permits, but which to date have not been completely addressed.  Future Legends has apparently focused on fixing issues at the dome and some area lighting.

“The TCOs are not just on the dome,” said Town Attorney Dan Money on Friday. “They are for multiple areas of the property, and the court has made a blanket extension, and the entire property is not safe.

“Future Legends argues there’s stronger lighting, but that’s not on the roads,” Money said. “But when people are driving those roads, it’s icy and dark. Future Legends asserts it’s safe because the town has extended the permits. Now, it’s winter. It’s dark, again, you take outdoor port-a-potties with no indoor bathrooms, you’ve got kids who have to go outdoors to go to the bathroom.

“This harm has all been self-inflicted,” Money said. “Again, why didn’t any of these things brought forward at the hearing come forward three weeks earlier? The court has been involved with this a couple months at least. Promises have been made to court by Future Legends, and they haven’t kept up, and they just blame the town for their issues. It’s a delay tactic. File it on the last day and ask for more time, and say ‘Well, we didn’t understand.’ Why is the loan always the next week, the next day, always right out of reach of the court’s hearing so the court has no choice but to extend and take Future Legends at its word?”

In Wednesday’s hearing, attorney Howie Ehrlich testified that Katofsky has indeed gotten a $260 million loan and that officials are meeting Monday to determine a disbursement schedule. He estimated a first disbursement could be as much as $20 million.

The building permits on the project have expired, however, which means Future Legends will have to have plans re-approved, which could take up to six weeks. Some of the work to satisfy the city’s concerns involves new pavement on the roads. Much of that cannot be done until at least the spring.

Cases cited:

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.

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