The City of Madison and Urban Land Interests will no longer be moving forward with the sale and purchase of the former Don Miller property on the 800 North Block of East Washington Avenue.

The decision between the city and ULI was mutual, according to a Madison statement.

“ULI had proposed a development of two commercial buildings, an apartment building and a parking ramp to serve the commercial buildings,” the statement said.

According to Steve Cover, director of the Madison Department of Planning, Community and Economic Development, the city was unable to make the financial numbers work with the project proposed by ULI.

The city looked at nearly 12 alternatives, but none were satisfactory, Cover said. Both parties recognized the situation and amiably terminated the agreement, he added.

“The City of Madison tries to set a limit of $3 million on such projects, which is dictated by city policy,” Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said of the terminated deal.

Although some communities will go over that amount, this one ended at negotiation where no resolution was made, he added.

According to the statement, the city and ULI entered into the purchase and sale agreement on May 22.

“In addition to the city looking for a larger development proposal on the site, the city and ULI both concluded that, at this time, the parking/development financial model would not generate sufficient incremental taxes to justify the project at this time,” the statement read.

Cover said that approximately five other proposals were submitted over a year ago, all of which are expressing a renewed interest in this site.

One business that hopes to be a part of the redevelopment despite the setback is Fresh Madison Market.

“Fresh Madison Market still hopes to be part of a future development in the area and provide a much-needed option of affordable, healthy foods, as well as create jobs, for those living and working in the neighborhood,” a statement released by the store said.

Cover said the city is looking for a project that will simultaneously generate energy in the area and work financially.

“We hope it is still possible to create something great in this space that will truly benefit the neighborhood and its residents in the near future,” Jeff Maurer, owner of Fresh Madison Market, said in the statement.

The next stage for the store is to return to the request for proposal, where a working group will set forth to write up proposals and send them to developers.

Although there is no project in the works, the site is going through demolition, Brynn Bemis, one of the city’s project managers said in an email to The Badger Herald.

Bemis said the city has received $1.2 million for the cleanup, with $800,000 to be used specifically for the Don Miller block and a $400,000 site assessment grant to be used for investigating the city for potential environmental contamination.

“Remediation, or excavation of contaminated soil, is scheduled to occur next spring 2013,” Bemis said. “This is the original schedule and is not impacted by ULI.”