Upstate NY site of last Howard Johnson's eatery up for sale

The site of the last Howard Johnson's restaurant in the United States is up for sale.

Property owner Joe DeSantis confirms Wednesday the parcel that includes the HoJo's in the village of Lake George is for sale. He denies reports that say the orange-roofed eatery along Route 9 in the southern Adirondacks has closed, saying he believes the restaurant's operator is running off-season hours.

A phone number listed for the restaurant isn't in service.

The restaurant had been closed for several years when it was reopened in January 2015 by John LaRock, who worked there in the '70s. LaRock leases the property from DeSantis Enterprises of nearby Queensbury.

DeSantis' father opened the restaurant in 1953.

A HoJo's restaurant in Lake Placid closed in early 2015 and one in Bangor, Maine, closed in September.