San Fernando Valley housing developer IMT Capital has purchased a plot of land in Sherman Oaks slated for large-scale housing development, officials confirmed.

Purchased for $58 million, the forthcoming project sandwiched between the 101 and 405 freeways and just north of the Galleria shopping center stirred up fierce community opposition years ago.

Today the 5-acre property at 4815-4827 Sepulveda Blvd. is a vacant lot, apart from a few cars stored there by a nearby dealer. The fully entitled residential project called Il Villagio Toscano or ‘Tuscan Village’ would reportedly bring 325 apartment units to the site, a 260,000-square-foot building with 44,000 square feet of retail space.

The San Fernando Valley Business Journal first reported the sale on Monday.

IMT did not respond to request for comment. The agreement broker, Kevin Shannon at Newmark Knight Frank, declined to comment but confirmed the sale.

An original version of a project proposed by developer M. David Paul & Associates sought to build 500 apartment units on the property, which spurred loud opposition from homeowner groups at City Hall. The scaled-back version was brokered by then-city councilman Tom LaBonge and approved in 2013.

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association – the leading group that lobbied against the development – cited pending litigation as a reason for the project’s delay and suggested even more friction looms ahead.

“I would assume that we’re going to have very contentious discussions with IMT as to what can be built because of traffic and parking concerns,” he said, pointing to past negotiations with IMT over their forthcoming development of the former Sunkist headquarters building in Sherman Oaks. “Also, there are a lot of people who question whether it’s safe for people to live so close to two freeways.”