The investment group that signed a contract a month ago to buy the Brass Elephant did not come up with the necessary deposit by today's deadline.
"We have not gotten a deposit," said Kemp Byrnes, a real estate broker representing the seller. "That's all I can tell you."
But Byrnes, of Byrnes and Associates, said the deal is not completely dead.
He said there is still "a conversation that's going on between the seller and buyer."
The potential buyer, an investment group that has not been identified, signed a contract a month ago but had 30 days to have the building inspected and to make the deposit.
On Friday, Randy Stahl, part owner of the Brass Elephant and the restaurant's chef from 1980 until 2000, said he thought the sale was a go.
"I'm fairly confident it will be done," he said. "I've been told all along the way, 'It's done.'"
He added, however: "I haven't seen an escrow deposit yet."
I reached Stahl by phone just a few minutes ago. He said he hadn't heard anything.
"I think no news is good news," he said.
When I told him that Brynes had just told me the money had not materialized, he said that was news to him.
Sun photo by Lloyd Fox