The building that formerly housed Ryan’s Buffet near the interchange of Highways 82 and 45 has a new owner after two and a half years of uncertainty about the property’s future.
The new owner is Angela Hu, who runs NH Property Management in Tupelo, according to records in Lowndes County Chancery Court and the Mississippi Secretary of State business database.
Royce Hudspeth, the listing agent for the 1.9-acre property, said Hu bought it for $500,000, much less than the listing price of $875,000.
Hu started NH Properties in September, and the Ryan’s property is her first purchase. She said she has not yet decided what kind of business the building will become, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re just going to wait a few more months,” Hu said. “Maybe (we’ll) put in a restaurant, or I was thinking maybe of leasing to someone.”
According to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s website, Hu is also affiliated with LLCs that own the Hibachi Buffet at Leigh Mall in Columbus and The Madden Crab seafood restaurant in Tupelo.
The property has been up for sale since April 2018, when former owner Realty Income Corp. of Escondido, California, contracted with Rhett Realty to sell the 10,819 square-foot building.
Ryan’s had been there since 2005, when Realty Income bought the building. It closed abruptly in June 2018 when the restaurant’s lease expired. The restaurant unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a new lease to remain there.
The building has been vacant since Ryan’s closed.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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