Newsmakers Jan. 31-Feb. 13: Mall redevelopment clears hurdle

Several months of legal wrangling between city of Longmont officials and clothing retailer Dillard’s Inc. came to a halt in January, finally clearing the way for redevelopment of the Twin Peaks Mall.

That’s when Longmont’s city council, acting as the Longmont Urban Renewal Authority, settled its eminent-domain case against Dillard’s, agreeing to pay $5 million for the 94,000-square-foot store and 7.1 acres around it at the mall. The city also agreed to pay Dillard’s $500,000 to cover legal fees.

Fort Collins-based NewMark Merrill Mountain States, developer of the new open-air Village at the Peaks shopping center that will replace the mall, ultimately paid the $5 million purchase price.

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The agreement canceled the need for an April jury trial that would have determined the price of the Dillard’s store. And it followed a December 2013 decision by a three-member panel that had set a preliminary value of $6.3 million for the property. Longmont officials earlier that year had offered Dillard’s $3.6 million, while Dillard’s requested $5 million. An appraiser for the city valued the store at $3.03 million, while a Dillard’s appraiser had said it was worth $6.3 million entering the eminent-domain case.

NewMark Merrill, which owned all of the mall site except for Dillard’s, needed title to the store before work could begin because Dillard’s held a reciprocal easement agreement that gave it veto power over any redevelopment at the site. The store was also an unwilling seller.

UPDATE

With the court case in the rearview, the developers broke ground on Village at the Peaks Aug. 1. Ironically, the only portion of the old mall that will remain is the Dillard’s building, though it will be divided up among multiple new tenants.

The $85 million, 480,000-square-foot redevelopment, on track to open in the fall of 2015, will be anchored by a Regal Cinemas 12-screen movie theater, Sam’s Club, Whole Foods Market, Sports Authority, Gold’s Gym and Wyatt’s Wine and Spirits. Restaurants like The Melt, Parry’s Pizza and Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar have also inked leases at Village at the Peaks, along with Verizon Wireless and Pacific Dental. Whole Foods, originally slated to occupy 30,000 square feet, upped the size of its commitment to 40,600 square feet.

The city and its taxpayers are kicking in $27.5 million toward the development, money that will be paid back over the next 23 years through tax increment financing – money generated through the expected future tax revenues from the site.