Above: Lamplighter trapezoid sign topper boxed over

Located at a well-trafficked site across Southern Blvd. from the New York State Turnpike Authority's headquarters, the Albany Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge lasted more than forty years. Howard-Albany Lodges Corp., a New Jersey company whose principal was Gerald von Dohlen, purchased the Motor Lodge in June 1995, but by the beginning of '96 had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The old Motor Lodge's finances were restructured, but was then smothered to death with new debt and operating fees resulting in a final bankruptcy filing in 2001. The property was sold for an undisclosed sum to Ramesh Bhatia by KeyBank, which had foreclosed on the property.

Its new owner abandoned the HJ franchise, and plans were drawn to demolish the Motor lodge and replace it with a high-rise Best Western. However even as a Best Western sign was erected, it was covered over when plans soured. The property then suffered an identity crisis. Temporary sign covers indicated that the site would be rebranded as a Ramada, but then the Ramada plans were dropped and the former HoJo's became the Regency Inn--part of a small chain of low-end motels owned by Indian-American Ramesh Bhatia and based in New York City. Regency Hotels LLC, Niteen Hotels, and Ramesh Bhatia were sued in 2007 for breach of contract by Ramada Worldwide Inc. for backing out of the Ramada franchise deal.