![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5_8TBGaH9Nb-LCDz_W5CQf5JC2Z5mYuycNsM8TBCLEp7Dmr_bFn5rZ1Ikkg6WZixMtM2jSKe2OP_-9nB315U0P6bQ_MMo7oQvAIn_KF5bFfwMIrqRNepNIDwTRvS4h56we0fu/s200/Nino's+Italian+Eatery.jpg)
I passed through Nino's parking lot yesterday on the way to the Bear Tooth. Being on a bike means you go slower and you can see things you'd miss in a car. They looked seriously closed, but I didn't have time to stop. But on the way home I checked more closely.
Why would the State Department of Transportation own this? Did they owe the State money? Maybe the state is going into the restaurant business? Weird.
When I got home it was too late to call anyone, but I did google. There's a thread in city-data Anchorage on Where did Nino's go? but no answers.
So this morning I called Nino's phone number. Busy.
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Then I called the Department of Transportation and Public Facitilities and within a few seconds I got the answer.
Nino's was for sale and DOT bought it because it is near where they will be doing work in the future (New Seward and 36th) and they feel they got it for a reasonable price.
They are working on the New Seward Highway from Tudor to Dowling this summer and next, so it will be at least a couple of years before they start to seriously work at 36th. I wonder if they would rent it out to a restauranteur in the meantime?
[UPDATE April 28, 2014: Here's a picture of the Nino's lot I took today.]
I just saw that Nino's was closed the other day and was shocked. I never saw the place NOT crowded. So we know DOT bought it (thank you), but have no idea why the owners sold it
ReplyDeleteFound this on the state website
ReplyDeletehttp://recorders.alaska.gov/ssd/recoff/sag/DocDisplay.cfm?SelectedDoc=20120217060&District=301
NIRO RESTAURANTS INC owns NINOS ITALIAN EATERY
The TAX man got them. So to pay the TAX man, I think nino's owners gave the state a fire sale deal. Sad.