A $2.7 million land sale has fallen through and it's back to square one for a town-owned downtown parcel referred to as the "old town hall land."

Despite efforts by both parties, developer Madlee Developments Ltd. and the town were unable to come to terms on the agreement in place, says Mayor Jeff Genung, and the property will remain with the town. He says he can't speak to the specific details.

"We just got stuck on a couple of the conditions and we weren't able to fulfill the agreement the way it was written," says Genung.

"We were hopeful this deal would have happened. It didn't and now we have to move on."

One of the artist's concept drawings used by La Vita Land in their bid to secure the land. That's now all water under the bridge.

The 2.17 acres of land is located on the corner of 2nd Ave. and 2nd St.

In 2015, the parcel was marketed as the gateway to downtown Cochrane and four developers presented proposals. In February 2016, the town awarded the rights to La Vita Land for $2.7 million. Later on, that company exercised its right to transfer the development to a third party, Madlee Developments Ltd.

In April 2017, Madlee Developments requested the closing date for the agreement be extended to Aug. 31, 2018. At the time, Madlee Developments president Kent Hystad told town council his company was having difficulties in attracting anchor tenants, due to the change in the economy, but was still confident in the project. It was also working through the conditions of the agreement, including the environmental assessment, consolidating the parcels into a single title and identifying any encumbrances on the site.

With the agreement's collapse, it didn't take long for people to suggest the land become part of the current consultation on downtown "tri-site" public land.

"We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves," says Genung. "Obviously, it's an important property to the community. There were some that wanted to jump quickly and make it the "quad-site study" but that wouldn't be prudent at this point. I think we just need to let the dust settle on that deal and put our heads together and re-evaluate what the town initiatives are and where we want to be in the future."

Genung says town council is aware of the situation but have not had any discussions on its future use at this time.

The Mayor doesn't see this as an indication of decreasing demand for commercial property in Cochrane, pointing to several projects currently underway throughout the community.