A county tax-delinquency auction for the Buffalo Inn in Upland, California, recently was canceled, but the fate of the historic Route 66 restaurant won’t be known until at least October.
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports Positive Investments, based in nearby Arcadia, California, paid off the $350,000 in delinquent taxes, but Richard Rinard said he and partner Janna Hickler still own the establishment for now.
But the property, however, remains in limbo because of lawsuits over it.
Despite the ongoing litigation, Hickler and Rinard are not giving up hope of one day reopening the restaurant, which has been in the family dating back to the 1970s.
“I think it’s an asset,” Hickler said.
Both said they had been in talks with a developer to sell the property, but the latest court battle has put those ambitions on hold.
Ideally, the potential owner would purchase the majority of the 5-acre property and still allow them to operate the Buffalo Inn, Rinard said.
A couple from Buffalo, New York, in 1928 opened the Buffalo Inn, also known under various other names over the decades, at a former lemon grove at 1812-1816 W. Foothill Blvd. (aka Route 66).
After a bankruptcy filing, the Buffalo Inn closed in 2015 when expenses piled up from a workplace accident and a sexual-harassment lawsuit.
The Buffalo inn also is not designated as a historic landmark (though it is eligible), so any future owner would have no restrictions on flattening it for redevelopment if he or she so desired.
(Image of the Buffalo Inn sign via Yelp)
So there is still time to get it designated as a historic landmark. Who can do that?