A Well-Done Deal: Hilltop Sells For Big Bucks

After serving its last meal in 2013, the famed Hilltop Steak House hit another milestone this week, closing on a deal that would sell the property to AvalonBay Communities for $17.2 million. The story was first reported in the Lynn Item.

The Hilltop property last changed hands in 2004 when High Country Investor Inc. paid $10.1 for the 14-acre site. With AvalonBay now in control, it can start to develop the site into a mixed-use development that includes apartments and retail space.

• Go inside the Hilltop one last time with this throwback photo gallery

Hilltop was opened in 1961 and the familiar giant saguaro cactus sign was a landmark along Route 1. Today the battered sign is all that remains of a restaurant that at one time was the country's largest restaurant in terms of customers served. On a typical Saturday more than 7,000 meals were served.

AvalonBay has approximately 24,000 square feet of retail space and 280 residential units in mind. The project would cost about $90 million and have 200 people in development and another 200 in retail.

Photo by Bob Holmes, Patch staff