Penguin Real Estate Investors -- the development company owned by city-resident Robert McNeil -- is no longer in the running to buy the Flats.

McNeil sent a letter to RDA president Joe DiSciullo on Monday officially notifying the authority Penguin was no longer pursuing the property. Read a copy of the letter here.

The letter also had been e-mailed to Council President Karen Jorgenson and City Manager Harry Walker. Walker unexpectedly had to leave work Monday and did not attend the council meeting, and at the meeting Jorgenson said she had yet read Penguin's letter.

Council's session was uncharacteristically short last night and there was no discussion about the Flats or the latest offer from developer Iacobucci Homes, although council members apparently have received copies of the company's proposal. Several several council members were seen leaving the meeting with green folders marked with gold lettering that read "Baker," as in Baker Homes the parent company of Iacobucci.