McGrath Property Group has been under contract to buy the properties from Robert Worm, who has owned the buildings and the popular establishments since 1983. McGrath wasn’t buying Worm’s landmark Hotel Ruby Marie and its Up North Bar at the corner of East Wilson and South Blair streets or tiny vacant lots Worm doesn’t own at 502-504 E. Wilson St.

Worm could not be reached. But Angie Gilner-Scott of the Essen Haus and Come Back In sent an email to Rummel Monday saying, “Bob asked me to email to let you know that Lance McGrath has terminated his offer to purchase the Essen Haus block property on Friday.”

McGrath’s proposal had received a mixed response from the neighborhood and city officials. Supporters said the project would be a vast improvement for the block and deliver much-needed housing, but others said it was too big, would bring congestion to South Franklin Street and change the character of the First Settlement Historic District.

To move forward, McGrath needed Landmarks Commission approvals for a land combination and for construction of a new principal structure in the historic district. Most of the site is in the historic district, but the East Wilson Street frontage is in the National Register of Historic Places, not the local historic district.