400 Washington Street

This property is at the northwest corner of Keokuk and Washington, down the hill from the now vacant 7-Eleven. It stands near the busy intersection of Washington and Howard Streets, and is at the gateway to Petaluma for visitors coming from the coast.

This parcel is a brownfield, having been used as a Unocal 76 gas station for just over two decades. The lot has been vacant since the gas station closed in 1993, and the oil tanks were removed in 1995. Although the property sits in a key location, its assessed value is only around $92,000. Read more about the history of this property here.

131 Fourth Street (310 D Street)

This vacant property sits at the key intersection of Petaluma Boulevard and D Street, and is directly across from Walnut Park in the center of Petaluma. This 840 square foot building houses a classic drive-in / walk-up restaurant that originally opened as PDQ in 1952, and later operated as Quinleys from 1994-2004, and as Walnut Park Grill from 2007 to 2019. The property is now owned by the El Roy’s restaurant team, but their plans to reopen it as a restaurant have stalled, and this iconic spot is now surrounded by a chain link fence.

131 Liberty Street

This property is behind the Petaluma Market, on Liberty Street, and has been vacant for at least 20 years. Plans were approved to build a mixed-use project with 10 residential and 2 commercial units around 2018, but the project stalled, and the property has been listed for sale on and off since 2021.

See a description of the property with schematics of the intended project here.

20 and 24 Petaluma Boulevard South

This two-parcel property contains an approximately 8,500 square foot building formerly used by the Bank of the West, and more than half an acre of unused parking lot. The property was put on the market in February 2022, and is still vacant (except for the chickens in the coop next to the building!)

2 East Washington Street, Suite 2

This is an empty storefront in the River Plaza (formerly known as the Golden Eagle shopping center). Until 2025, this property housed the Exchange Bank, which has since relocated to the corner of Petaluma Boulevard North and Washington Street.

301 and 309 East Washington Street

These two vacant parcels next to O’Reilly Auto Parts in the CVS shopping center span almost 12,000 square feet. Despite their prime location, they have been vacant for over 20 years. Their combined assessed value as of 2025 was $75,366, and they bring in only about $148 per year in property tax for the City. Like the rest of the vacant properties on this website, they generate nothing in sales tax or other revenue for the City. These properties were designated as priority opportunity sites for redevelopment by the City in the 2013 Station Area Master Plan.

2 East Washington Street, Suite 56B

This storefront in the River Plaza formerly housed a bike shop, but has been vacant since 2025.

430 Washington Street

This is the site of the former 7-Eleven at Washington and Howard Streets. This property, vacant and fenced off since 2024, stands at the gateway to the City for visitors coming from the west on Bodega Avenue.

172 Petaluma Boulevard North

The Tyler Building is on the southeast corner of Petaluma Boulevard North and Washington Street, at one of the busiest intersections in the heart of Petaluma. This historic building has been vacant on and off for years, and is vacant again as of 2025. The property is permitted for use as a store and residential units.

600 Petaluma Boulevard North

This empty lot sits at the key intersection of Petaluma Boulevard North and Lakeville, and has been vacant for at least 25 years. This lot is believed to have once been an auto repair facility. Because it is potentially contaminated, it is considered to be a brownfield. Urban Chat helped the City to apply to the federal EPA for a grant to perform environmental site assessments for this property and develop a revitalization plan, but funding has not yet been secured.

The Trestle (on the Petaluma River, near 224 B Street)

The downtown trestle is a falling-down, blighted, eyesore on the banks of the Petaluma River. While it is not a vacant parcel per se, it is analogous to a vacant lot in terms of its impact on the community.

Passenger rail service on this rail line ceased in 1935, and freight rail service ended in the 1970s. There is no current plan on whether and how to restore, tear down, or revitalize this property. For a fascinating look at the trestle’s ownership mystery, check out this article.

601 and 605 Petaluma Boulevard / 520 Kentucky Street

This property, controlled by a local family, is the former home of a kitchen and bath design center and also includes two large parking lots that span from Petaluma Boulevard to Kentucky Street. The building has been red-tagged as unsafe to occupy by the City, and has been vacant since 2023. It is unknown whether the City or the property owner have taken any steps to remediate the code violations and bring the property back into productive use.

219 Lakeville

This is the site of the former Traxx Bar & Grill. The property sits directly across the street from the Downtown SMART station and is one of the first things that visitors to Petaluma see when getting off the train.

The vacant Traxx Bar & Grill is on the same lot as some occupied residential units at 217 Lakeville. The owners intend to redevelop both parcels as much-needed housing, once the property's zoning is clarified following updates to the City's General Plan.

These parcels were identified as priority opportunity sites for redevelopment in the City’s Station Area Master Plan in 2013.

401 East Washington Street

This is the former site of a floor coverings shop. The building has been vacant since at least 2024. The parking lot is used by El Roy’s Express Mex food truck. This property is located at the high-visibility intersection of East Washington Street and Lakeville, and is catty-corner to the Downtown SMART station. This property was also designated as a priority opportunity site for redevelopment in the Station Area Master Plan in 2013.

171 Petaluma Boulevard North

This is the site of the defunct Clock Shoppe, which had occupied this space since 1978.

165 Petaluma Boulevard North

This is the parking lot next to the defunct Clock Shoppe, near the intersection of Petaluma Boulevard and Washington Street. This parcel has been vacant for over 20 years. Its assessed value is $301,090. The City receives only $241 per year in property taxes from this parcel.

216 Petaluma Boulevard North

This is the site of a former antique shop, located near the intersection of Petaluma Boulevard and Washington Street. This storefront has been vacant since 2024.

201 East Washington Street

This decaying pink and white building is at the corner of East Washington and Baylis Streets, across from the Copeland Transit Mall where people come and go by bus. It is unknown how long this building has been in disrepair and underutilized, but it has clearly been years. This site is listed as a priority opportunity site for development of pedestrian-oriented mixed-use in the 2013 Station Area Master Plan.

368 Petaluma Boulevard North

This storefront is on the bottom floor of the La Via Apartments building on Petaluma Boulevard North at Oak Street. This and other ground-floor storefronts in the building have been listed for lease since La Via was completed in 2022, but no portion of the retail space has ever been rented.

300 Water Street

This derelict warehouse is located on Water Street, between La Via Apartments and Brewsters Beer Garden. The property was last purchased in 2017, but it appears to be largely vacant, and it is at least underutilized and in a serious state of disrepair.

294 Petaluma Boulevard North (next to 300 Water Street)

This large parking lot and storage yard, surrounded by chain link fencing, is adjacent to the run-down warehouses at 300 Water Street, though its address is on Petaluma Boulevard North. The warehouses and the parking lot are owned by the same entity, Water Street Properties, LLC.

272 Petaluma Blvd North

The recorded use description for this parcel is “vacant industrial land w/utilities.” It appears that the parcel includes some warehouses, with two of them vacant and available for lease.

This photo was taken from the Water Street side of the property.

Water Street Lot (no address)

These are undeveloped parcels on Water Street in a prime location on the river, near La Via Apartments and Brewsters Beer Garden. This land has been vacant for over 20 years.

315 East D Street (Copeland Landing)

This 4.5 acre parcel, often referred to as Copeland Landing, abuts the downtown train station, the Petaluma Arts Center, and the Visitors Center. The photograph here shows the property from the Copeland Street side, through a chain link fence.

To date, neither the City nor SMART has taken any concrete steps to implement this plan.

A proposed project for two, five-story buildings totaling 402 multi-family residential units and approximately 5,129 square feet of retail space failed in 2020 for financial reasons.

215 Weller Street (Haystack)

These are five vacant lots totaling 3.92 acres, with an equipment rental lot sandwiched in between. This is prime Petaluma real estate that has been vacant for over 30 years.

This site is extremely well situated and is deemed a catalyst site whose redevelopment could revitalize the entire area. This property borders the bus Transit Mall on Copeland Street and the SMART train station at Copeland Landing. The Haystack properties are also bordered by several small retail and commercial businesses on Weller Street, which back up to the river, as well as a small City parklet (Cavanaugh Landing) which leads to the Turning Basin heading to downtown. The property is also across the street from the Petaluma River Park.

132 Keller Street

This is the site of the former Kapu Bar, which has been closed since April 2025. This property is next door to the downtown parking lot, and across the street from Petaluma Market.

145-149 Kentucky Street

This historic space in the heart of downtown has been many things over the years, but what is has been most recently is vacant.

After McGuire’s closed in 2021, a victim of the COVID-19 shutdowns, a new owner purchased the property and in 2022 announced a plan to reopen the business as The Kentucky. In April 2025, it was revealed that The Kentucky would be a piano bar, set to open later that year. However, to date, the building remains shuttered, and the unveiling of The Kentucky remains on hold.

8 Kentucky Street

This unofficial private parking lot sits between the McNear and the LanMart Buildings on Kentucky Street and Petaluma Boulevard, downtown Petaluma’s main commercial drags. This lot, owned by a local family, has been vacant infill property since 1952, when the building formerly on the site burned down. The City receives only $354 a year in property taxes and assessments for this parcel.

115 Fourth Street

Next to the former Fourth and Sea restaurant and behind the vacant Bank of the West building sits a 0.12-acre unused asphalt lot, owned by a local family. This unproductive lot sits on prime real estate, across from Petaluma’s historic post office building. It has been vacant since the 1990s. The property is assessed at $217,029 and generated only $296 in taxes for the City in 2025.

This photo was snapped at 11:41 a.m. on a weekday.

310 East D Street

This quarter-acre lot on East D Street at Lakeville has been vacant for at least 20 years, and is suspected to be environmentally contaminated because of its past industrial use. Despite its prime location across the street from the downtown train station, it assessed for only $30,383 in 2025, resulting in a tax payment to the City of $64. The City designated this as a priority opportunity site for redevelopment in 2013, but it is still a vacant lot in 2026.

100 East D Street (Oyster Cove)

This property is two parcels totaling 5.45 acres between East D Street, the Petaluma River, and Steamer’s Landing / Petaluma River Park. The property was listed as a priority opportunity development site in the Station Area Master Plan in 2013. It is mostly vacant land but includes an empty industrial building and a dock fronting the river.

The property is owned by a local family. UrbanMix developers proposed a mixed-use project with 132 homes and acquired entitlements to build from the City’s Planning Department in 2023, with Site Plan and Architectural Review still pending. According to the City, “Oyster Cove will replace a vacant former industrial site with 132 units of infill housing, public spaces, commercial opportunities, and amenities. The project will include a new river promenade and provide connections to Steamer Landing and the Petaluma River Park. The reimagined site will offer residents the ability to live in the heart of the community with quick access to Downtown, transportation, and recreation.” Learn more about the project here.

2 and 10 Petaluma Boulevard South / 313 B Street (EKN Appellation Hotel)

This lot, which has stood vacant for over 20 years, is in the process of being developed as an upscale 56-room boutique hotel, with a basement-level 57-seat restaurant and “speakeasy,” a 141-seat ground-floor restaurant, and a 105-seat restaurant/lounge on the fourth floor. It is anticipated that the restaurants will be designed by award-winning chef Charlie Palmer who is one of the project sponsors. See a description of the project here.

Development of a hotel on this site was controversial, and prompted a group of Petaluma residents to file a lawsuit against the City and seek to put a referendum measure on the ballot to overturn the City’s decision to create a zoning overlay that would have accommodated a larger hotel. Ultimately, though, the developers submitted a new proposal for a smaller hotel, which resolved the dispute. That revised proposal has been approved by the City with certain design conditions, but no final permit has been issued and no groundwork has begun.

201 Petaluma Boulevard South

This half-acre empty lot sits directly across from Walnut Park, at the junction of Petaluma Boulevard and D Street, a major intersection traveled by residents and visitors alike. This property had been a Unocal gas station starting in 1969, but was identified as a Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) site by the California State Water Resources Control Board needing remediation. The station building and the underground storage tanks were removed in 1991 and 1992. The site has been vacant and behind a chain link fence since then.

In 2025, a Missouri company, West Four Properties Inc., purchased the land. In an October 2025 report to the Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region, a contractor for the owner stated: “As of May 1, 2025, the property was acquired by WFP. As part of the transaction, WFP agreed to assume responsibility for environmental remediation of the property in preparation for yet to be determined redevelopment.“

6 Fifth Street

Tan Tropic Tanning Salon was located on this downtown parcel across from the A Street parking lot. The business closed sometime around 2020.

This property (and 10 Fifth Street) were sold in August, 2025, but remain vacant.

10 Fifth Street

This empty lot adjoins the 6 Fifth Street property, the former home of the Tan Tropics Tanning Salon.

This property (and 6 Fifth Street) were sold in August, 2025.

136 Court Street

This empty lot is between Keokuk and Liberty Streets, off of Washington, and backs to the vacant lot at 131 Liberty Street. This property has been vacant for at least 20 years. Plans were approved by the City around 2023 for three mixed use townhouses, but these units were never built. Instead, the property remains vacant, and was listed for sale in September 2025.

In 2025, the assessed value of this parcel was $267,722, with the City of Petaluma receiving only $179 in tax.

Madison Street (No Address)

This spur off of the Lynch Creek trail runs along decommissioned railroad tracks. The property is likely publicly owned. Could it be turned into a small park, a garden, or an urban forest?

Vacant Land Across from Downtown Train Station (Parcels at 0, 320, and 330 East D Street and 0 Lakeville Street)

This vacant swath of land is made up of four small parcels about which little is known. Hopper Street runs through the parcels and empties onto East D Street. The Sonoma Marin Rapid Area Transit District (SMART) may own these parcels since they run along the railroad tracks.