Fast-casual vegan chain Veggie Grill won’t be opening a new restaurant in downtown Bellevue, at least not for now.

The company had to drop its lease with the owner of the former Bellevue Auto House on 106th Avenue Northeast after the city allegedly tacked on around $200,000 in fees to construct a new restaurant location there, according to Veggie Grill’s Seattle real estate agent.

“We worked on the deal for a very long time,” said Tracy Cornell, a leasing and sales broker for JSH Properties who represents Veggie Grill.

Veggie Grill entered a 10-year lease — with up to four 5-year extensions — with Hsiao LLC back in May 2013 that would have allowed the company to tear down the old Auto House and construct the restaurant at 233 106th Ave. N.E.

Cornell said a number of fees for mitigation of traffic and soil — among other things — amounted to around $200,000, which Veggie Grill determined was too cost prohibitive.

“They want to be on the Eastside,” she said, adding there is a lot of customer interest motivating Veggie Grill. “We’ve tried a number of sites and they haven’t worked out.”

A city spokesperson tells the Reporter changing the building’s use for a restaurant would have required upgrades to sewer and water pipes, a side sewer line undersized for the existing building. Because Veggie Grill did not continue beyond the pre-application meeting with the city, the actual cost estimate for upgrading the site was not vetted.

The old Bellevue Auto House remains and is back up for lease. Hopefully someone will find a use for it, Cornell said.

“It’s just disappointing,” she said, ” because it’s an eyesore.”