There once was a time when the Mayfaire Town Center was a farm, most of Military Cutoff Road never existed and four-wheelers were king in the undeveloped backwoods of Landfall. 

Then a new kid showed up on the block in the 1980s: Landfall Center, a 130,000 square foot neighborhood shopping center near the intersection of Eastwood and Military Cutoff roads.

“At the time, it was one of the first premier shopping centers in the area,” said Mike Brown, lead broker with Wilmington-based Cape Fear Commercial. “The tenants have been serving the area for a long time and continue to do so.”

But as newer retail space came on board — including the Mayfaire Town Center and The Forum — the new kid on the block suddenly took a back seat to its more ritzy and modern neighbors.

Cape Fear Commercial officials didn’t want to see that happen, and on January 1, assumed exclusive leasing and management rights to the shopping plaza from Chapel Hill-based Landfall Ventures, LLC.

Now, after meeting with tenants and nearby residents, one of the most diverse shopping centers in Wilmington’s most exclusive zip code is getting a second look.

Since overseeing the center’s management and leasing activities, Cape Fear officials are sprucing up the city’s ninth-largest shopping center by pressure washing the exterior, restriping the parking lot, hiring a new landscaper and pruning many of the center’s trees. Officials also hope to add new awnings in the coming months to give Landfall Center more curb appeal.

Brown said in the future the site could be slated for a façade upgrade; however, he said that improvement would be years in the making.

The center is also welcoming new tenants while retaining existing ones. 

Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt joins the current retail and restaurant tenants of Landfall Center, that includes Unleashed — a new pet store, Food Lion, Dollar Tree, Lovey’s Natural Foods & Café, Havertys, Terrazzo Trattoria Restaurant and nine outparcels. Starbucks has also signed another long-term lease to stay put at the location.

Brown added his team is also looking for new tenants to fill six vacant locations left in the shopping center. The firm is hoping to lure more upscale tenants to the existing line up at Landfall, and is counting on the center’s location to help win new clients over.

The Landfall trade area currently averages more than 35,000 vehicles daily at the Eastwood and Military Cutoff roads intersection — that number swells during peak tourism seasons. The location also includes some of the region’s wealthiest spenders, where the average disposable household income exceeds $67,000 a year.  

“It’s one of the best locations in Wilmington,” Brown said. “It’s currently more than 90 percent leased, and we have few spaces left to fill.”