At least one Mendocino County official confirmed this week that the former Fjords building near Raley’s is becoming an In-N-Out Burger location.

“They’re a really good developer, in my opinion,” said Mendocino County Transportation Director Howard Dashiell Tuesday, addressing the attendees of a tour of local road projects hosted by the Mendocino Council of Governments.

Dashiell said the area surrounding the building was getting new, ADA-compliant sidewalks and the dreaded “bump” that drivers have to cross to enter the shopping center next to Yokayo Bowl and the Fjords building will be fixed, as well.

“That bump pretty much stops the flow of traffic, and as a business, that’s not something you typically want,” he said, explaining that he doesn’t have the money in his budget to make those repairs, so he asked In-Out-Burger to do it.

“And I gotta hand it to them, they’re stepping up and doing more,” he said. “Everything I asked them to do they agreed to, which was great, because they didn’t have to. But they want it to be a classy business.”

Dashiell said the building was zoned for a restaurant and no approval process was needed for the burger chain to acquire it and open a location there.

“In fact, I’m ready to release the encroachment permits they requested for work in the right-of-way,” he said.

Todd Shapmire of RE/MAX, who represents the seller of the building, said he was “not at liberty to disclose who bought the building,” but he could confirm that it was in escrow, and he expected that process to close within 30 to 60 days, with demolition and site work beginning after that.

When asked to confirm that the building was being demolished, Shapmire said, “I can’t imagine that building being reused for anything.”

The sale was reported in February, and at the time In-N-Out, based in Southern California, was rumored to be a possible buyer.

Last fall, Carl Van Fleet, the company’s vice president of planning and development, confirmed that the company was at least considering locating in Ukiah, but could not comment on any definite plans at that time.

“We would love to have a location in Ukiah,” Van Fleet said in an email.

Steve Dunnicliff, the director of the Mendocino County Planning Department, confirmed Tuesday that In-N-Out Burger submitted an application on March 28 to “demolish” the existing building at 1351 N. State St. and replace it with a burger restaurant. Dunnicliff said he expected the permits to be approved soon, possibly this week.