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PLEASANT HILL — Six years after In-N-Out Burger abandoned its plan to build on North Main Street, one of the city’s last vacant commercial properties remains undeveloped.

In some ways, the 1-acre empty lot on the border of Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek is ideal for retail. Sandwiched between the Black Angus restaurant and a funeral home, the property is visible from Interstate 680, sits on a major thoroughfare and is located close to the Pleasant Hill-Contra Costa Centre BART station.

In-N-Out, however, faced strong opposition from a group of Walnut Creek residents who believed the restaurant would bring traffic, noise and other nuisances to their neighborhood.

Since the fast-food titan moved on, Pleasant Hill had received no planning applications for the property until recently. But it was not the pitch the city was hoping to get.

Last week, City Ventures, an Irvine-based housing developer, brought before the Planning Commission a preliminary proposal to demolish the Black Angus and build 60 two- and three-story, for-sale townhouses on the 2.5-acre site at North Main Street and Oak Park Boulevard.

City Ventures believes the proximity to BART, downtown Pleasant Hill and the library make it an ideal location for homes, according to Andrew Warner, director of development.

In addition to rezoning the parcels, Pleasant Hill would need to amend the general plan, which designates the site as commercial and retail.

But in a city that depends heavily on sales tax revenue, most of the planning commissioners said they are unwilling to give up the potential for a commercial tenant for housing.

Diana Vavrek pointed out that Black Angus has drawn enough diners to remain open there for years. The steakhouse is closed temporarily for renovations following an electrical fire last month.

“I believe that it’s still a viable commercial site,” Vavrek said. “We don’t change our general plan designations due to market conditions.”

John Sechser, senior vice president with Transwestern in Walnut Creek, also believes the property is ideal for retail, particularly if both the vacant lot and the Black Angus parcel are available for development.

Although the planning commissioners suggested that the Oak Park Boulevard overpass, the congested Treat Boulevard-North Main Street intersection and a network of one-way streets behind the property may have deterred retailers, Sechser, who worked with In-N-Out, believes access is not an issue for the property.

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He contends that the owner’s asking price is keeping commercial developers away. An online listing states “price not disclosed.”

“They’ve actually priced it to try to accommodate a residential component,” Sechser said.

Although Commissioner Robert Allen agreed with his colleagues that the city should not change the general plan, he said the property may be better suited to office space than retail.

It is unclear whether City Ventures will pursue the project. The firm did not return a call seeking comment on its plans.

“I have a hard time seeing housing at that site,” Mayor Michael Harris said. “We know that it’s worked as a restaurant for a long time. I’m hard-pressed to convert commercial space to residential; you need to have a really good reason to do it.”