Arizona State Land Commissioner Lisa Atkins said it might be 12 to 14 weeks before “we hit the restart button” on the next step in the vacant state-owned land in town.

Developer Ellman Companies missed a $182 million payment on the 1,275-acre parcel in mid-March.

By backing out of the deal, the company loses $28 million it had paid since 2007 toward purchasing the land on the northern edge of town.

CEO Steve Ellman said the value of the land hasn’t recovered enough to make the project viable at the price negotiated in 2007.

Atkins said the department is “now in the process” of closing paperwork associated with termination of the sale.

She estimated that it could be at least six weeks before a team from the land department could meet with Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Town Manager Grady Miller and other officials to determine the town’s aspirations for the land and the best interests of the trust department.

Once the interests of the town and trust department are in alignment, Atkins said it could be another six to eight weeks before the next procedural step.

Atkins said it is the first time since she has been a commissioner to have state trust land reverted back to the department. She said she knows similar situations have occurred in the past.

In April 2015, Gov. Douc Ducey appointed Atkins commissioner of the agency that manages approximately 9.3 million acres of trust land across Arizona.

The town’s position, according to Kavanagh, is that the land should be auctioned off as one and not divided into separate parcels.