The Cape Neddick Lobster Pound in York has sold to the owners of Pepper’s Landing Lobster Co., who expect to reopen the 64-year-old restaurant this July.

J. B. Young, owner of “The Pound” as the local institution is known, put the property up for sale in March with an asking price of $2.5 million. The sale closed June 2, and Young told the Portsmouth Herald recently that he sold the property for less than his asking price in an effort to make sure the restaurant would remain “in good hands.”

Pepper’s Landing owners Ian Miller and Morey Highbarger launched their brand in 2019 when they opened their first two locations in Brunswick and Rochester, N.H. They have since opened a location in Old Town and are preparing to open another in Ogunquit this summer. Miller and Highbarger also own Sea Salt Lobster restaurant in Saco.

The new owners plan to keep the Cape Neddick Lobster Pound name for the first season, according to the Portsmouth Herald. An ordinance prohibiting chain restaurants in York prevents the restaurant from being called Pepper’s Landing, but the owners expect to find a name more closely aligned with their brand in future seasons.

The riverside restaurant has been a popular dining destination for both tourists and locals in town since it opened in 1959. But for more than 10 years, the Young family has said dramatically rising costs – including property taxes, utilities and food – have made it increasingly challenging for them to operate.