FREMONT — More than five years after a Ralphs failed to materialize in a long-barren square block of Centerville, a supermarket once again is at the center of neighborhood redevelopment plans.

A divided City Council, acting as the redevelopment agency, voted 3-2 Tuesday to enter into exclusive negotiations with developer Blake Hunt Ventures to build a retail center, anchored by a supermarket, on a 6.6-acre lot near the Centerville train station.

"It's amazing; after five years it's almost the same thing," Mayor Bob Wasserman said.

Councilmembers Anu Natarajan and Bob Wieckowski favored a rival plan that included up to 200 housing units and a smaller grocery store.

The city has spent $14 million buying and cleaning up the land bounded by Fremont Boulevard, Post Street, Bonde Way and Thornton Avenue, but hasn't been able to get a project off the ground.

Most recently, developer James Tong couldn't obtain funding for either a mixed housing and retail development or a retail-only development with an emphasis on restaurants.

Blake Hunt proposed a 45,000-square-foot supermarket, 16,000-square-foot drug store, 38,200 square feet of shops and restaurants and 427 parking spaces.

If that proves unfeasible, the firm suggested a backup plan that would add up to 48 housing units and nearly half the retail and parking spaces.

The project's viability, city officials said, depends on securing a supermarket for the site.

That should be easier now than five years ago when Ralphs abandoned its Bay Area expansion plans, said Blake Hunt co-founder Brad Blake.

With the expansion of Save Mart, owner of Lucky, and the entrance of British-grocer Tesco in the Bay Area, he said, "The competitive landscape for grocery stores looks a lot better."

If negotiations with the city conclude successfully, Blake added, the development should be completed in three years.

The city received six development bids after Tong's second project fizzled, officials said. All but Blake Hunt's proposal were centered on housing.

Wieckowski said the proposed mixed housing and retail proposal from development team Opus West and Regis Homes would best revitalize the neighborhood. Nearby lots, he added, could house some of the proposed shops, such as a drug store.

The council majority countered that Centerville residents consistently have pushed for retail at the site.

"As I go back and recollect on all those discussions seven or eight years ago, the commotion was that they wanted a grocery store," Councilmember Steve Cho said.