LONGMONT — Regal Entertainment Group has agreed to a lease that would let it operate a 12-screen movie theater at the Twin Peaks Mall, but negotiations between the mall owner and Dillard’s are down to the wire.

Mayor Dennis Coombs made the announcement Tuesday before the evening’s Longmont City Council session. Mall owner NewMark Merrill Mountain States will make its final offer to Dillard’s Wednesday.

“We’ve certainly got to come to some mutual agreement that will satisfy Dillard’s and satisfy us,” said Allen Ginsborg of NewMark Merrill.

If that agreement doesn’t come, Coombs said, the City Council — acting as the Longmont Urban Renewal Authority — will discuss on April 9 whether to use eminent domain to move the project through even without a Dillard’s contract.

Dillard’s and Regal have been the two key players that have to be accounted for before the $80 million mall redevelopment can go forward. Regal’s existing lease gives it the exclusive right to operate a movie theater at the mall, while Dillard’s owns its own building and land.

A city timeline set a March 15 deadline for both companies to reach an agreement with NewMark Merrill. Earlier this year, Ginsborg said he had to have agreements by April 1 or else the financing delays could postpone the project’s start by a year.

If the mall meets certain benchmarks, Longmont will put $27.5 million into the project, to be repaid by the additional sales and property tax generated by the new mall, and by a mill levy the mall will place on itself. One of those requirements was a commitment for a 12-screen movie theater, a requirement now satisfied by Regal.

“That is good news for the project and the community,” Coombs said.

Before the meeting, Ginsborg said he was still optimistic about the negotiations with Dillard’s.

“It’s all part of what you go through to make a project successful,” he said. “And this project’s going to be successful.”

Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com.