Former Hilltop Steak House Site to Become Luxury Apartments

The Route 1 property sold for $17.25 million.

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Four years after the beloved Route 1 restaurant closed its doors, the former Hilltop Steak House site is slated become luxury apartments.

AvalonBay Communites has purchased the Saugus property from CBRE/New England for $17.25 million, and will develop the site into a 280-unit luxury rental apartment community, with roughly 25,000 square feet of retail providing a “focal point and attraction at the front entrance to the development.” Ten percent of the luxury units will be designated affordable.

And don’t worry—developers say the cactus sign out front is staying put, per the Boston Business Journal.

Boston’s building boom has crept up the North Shore, imperiling the kitschy landmarks that line Route 1. When Route 1 Miniature Golf Course and Batting Cages closed in September after 57 years in business, the future of its toothy, orange dinosaur—immortalized on a Mystic Brewing label—appeared in jeopardy.

Luckily, Lynnfield developer Michael Touchette, who purchased the property with the intent to build 50 apartments, restaurants, and retail, pledged to incorporate the fiberglass T-rex in the new development. “The dinosaur will stay where it is, or go into one of the hotels and have a pitch-and-putt. It’s definitely going to stay,” he told the Globe.