Hamilton Southeastern Schools has turned down the top offer for roughly 16 acres of district-owned land at 136th Street and Prairie Baptist Road after bidding failed to reach the district’s target price.

Bidding on the property closed at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Tim Brown, assistant superintendent for finance, said in an email to LarryInFishers.com that the district received 45 bids.

“However, we did not meet our targeted goal, so at this time we did not accept the final offer,” Brown wrote.

Brown said district officials will update the school board on next steps at its meeting Wednesday. He added that the district is “not concerned about meeting our goal in the future.”

Brown’s response did not include the amount of the highest bid or the target price the district had set.

The land, which is leased out and farmed, is what remains of a larger parcel the district once owned at the intersection. Part of the original tract was used in a partnership with the City of Fishers to build a fire station.

District officials told the board’s Finance and Facilities Committee in August that the remaining ground is too small and poorly located to serve as a future school site.

Brown said then that the sale would carry no contingencies limiting how a buyer could use the property. Any zoning or land-use approvals would go through the City of Fishers, not the school district.

The board voted to authorize the sale before the property went to bid. Under the process outlined in August, members would also have to approve any final sale.