“I’m gonna rebuild. It’s gonna be bigger and better,” Terry Bender said on the morning of May 13, the day after he watched his Lower Macungie Township 18th century mainstay restaurant – The Buckeye Tavern – go up in flames.

Bender apparently has changed his mind, as the iconic restaurant at 3741 Brookside Road is now listed for sale for $549,000 with the James Balliet Commercial Group at Keller Williams Commercial Real Estate.

According to LoopNet, the asking price includes the 4,914-square-foot building on .88 acres, with the foundation intact. The liquor license is available, but is not included in price, the listing states.

Victoria Lutte, a former employee of the Buckeye Tavern, said this morning that for two weeks she has heard multiple rumors that P.J. Whelihan’s Pub and Restaurant – whose locations include one in South Whitehall Township and one in Bethlehem – is interested in buying the restaurant.

However, Jim Fris, chief operating officer of P.J.’s, said this morning that the 18-location multibrand chain is not buying the Buckeye.

According to Fris, when he heard the Buckeye burned down, he sent someone to drive by the location and found that the parking space is not feasible.

“I had someone look at it, and that’s as far as it got,” he said. “It never crossed our mind after that drive-by. We never took a second look.”

The history of the Buckeye dates to 1735, when the building opened as an inn and hotel and operated through the late 1800s as the East Macungie Hotel and later as The Load of Mischief.

The building has been home to a neighborhood eatery since June 1768, when Martin Speigle bought the building for 10 pounds, 13 shillings and three pence. More than 200 years later, in 1987, the Buckeye Tavern was opened.

In 2000, a new upstairs party-room was completed to accommodate large groups. The new area featured an indoor/outdoor bar with deck. The original stone walls were restored to preserve the historic atmosphere.

The building has had 19 owners.

Bender also owns The Alburtis Tavern on Main in Alburtis, another historic building which he bought and renovated two years ago as the former Iron Run Horse Restaurant. He also has owned Sneaks-N-Cleats, a sports apparel and equipment store in Trexlertown, for more than 20 years. It closed several months ago.

Bender and Balliet were unavailable for comment.