The Kannapolis Board of Education accepted an offer on the building Nov. 8 from Isaac L. Murray, CEO of Murray Adolescent Training and Treatment Academy.

Murray said earlier this week that he anticipated meeting today’s 5 p.m. deadline for presenting Kannapolis City Schools with a financing package to buy the property.

But Murray notified school officials Tuesday afternoon that he has been unable to secure the financing within the 15-days allowed after the system accepted his company’s bid.

“They don’t have their financing completed, and that was one of the conditions of the contract,” Dr. Ed Tyson, Kannapolis City Schools superintendent, said this morning. “It doesn’t mean that they might not come back at a later time. I understand they still have an interest.”

A receptionist who answered the telephone at Murray’s school Wednesday said he would be out of the office until Tuesday.

Murray has said he hopes to consolidate group homes scattered throughout Charlotte and Concord, which serve 55 abused and troubled youths 10 to 18 years old.

He said most of them have been abused, neglected or abandoned, and need “development of social skills and other tools that would help them as they develop into adult life.”

He said this week that Aycock — a 44,422-square-foot building built in 1928 — could eventually house up to 75 youths, a prospect that has made some neighbors uneasy.

But now, the Kannapolis school system is back to seeking bids, Tyson said. The school board will discuss the latest development in its attempts to sell the school at its December meeting.

The school building became obsolete when the new Forest Park Elementary School opened and replaced it.

First Assembly Christian School of Concord considered Aycock for a branch campus. The U.S. Postal Service offered $700,000 for it, but the school board considered that offer too low.

Murray’s bid matched the appraised value of the school. And with a $75,000 deposit on Nov. 8, he began the process of buying the property.

If he had gotten financing by today, his offer would have been subject to an upset-bid process. Anyone could have outbid him within 10 days by offering at least $1,575,050.

But now, Tyson said, the school system is again open to all bids on Aycock Elementary.

“The door’s still open for anyone to make a bid or to propose a sale,” he said. “We’re back to not having an active offer on the table right now.”

The Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners must approve any sale, Cabarrus County Manager Frank Clifton said.

He said the commissioners could turn down a sale for any reason under “pretty broad”statutes governing such transactions.

Murray would have needed permits from the city, county and state approving his design, proposed number of residents and operational plan.

The property is zoned office-institutional, which allows the type of facility Murray proposed, said Mike Legg, Kannapolis planning director.

But some Aycock neighbors oppose Murray’s plan, and they or a city official could petition for a zoning change, he said.