Anchored at the corner of Oleander Drive and Independence Boulevard, Independence Mall has been the retail fixture in midtown Wilmington since the late 1970s.

At more than 1 million square feet, Independence Mall is like a stone fortress, harboring a tenant mix of some of the largest retailers in the South including Belk and Dillard’s, which was added to the mall in 2001.

But over the past several decades, the mall has experienced its fair share of ups and downs.

As other retail developments, like Mayfaire Town Center, The Forum and Lumina Station, trickled into the area, Independence Mall’s dominance began to be overshadowed by more modern developments despite undergoing an extensive renovation in 2001.

But that’s beginning to change, officials said.

With a resurgence of renewed retail interest occurring along the Oleander Drive corridor and a concentration of affluent households in the surrounding Cape Fear Country Club and Forest Hills areas, mall officials are reporting an uptick in interest from local and national retailers – prompting mall officials to reimagine space inside and around Independence Mall.

“We have a number of tenants, apparel users and a new grocer that is looking at the mall,” said Denise Browning, senior vice president of Madison Marquette, the firm responsible for marketing and leasing at Independence Mall.

“We would like to bring more outparcel restaurant development to the mall. We are also working with a number of large box tenants.”

Browning said officials plan to make significant announcements including ones about exterior façade upgrades and future tenants, sometime next year.

While she would not name the retailers or grocery store interested in Independence Mall, Browning said the new tenants would not displace the existing anchor tenants – Sears, JCPenney, Dillard’s and Belk.

“I think in Wilmington, and across the market nationally, the retailers are starting to come back and expand and introduce new concepts,” Browning said. “Looking forward to 2014, we will see more activity in the Wilmington market.”

Washington, D.C.-based Madison Marquette has experience in making good malls, both enclosed and open-air, better.

The firm, which owns and operates dozens of shopping centers and malls throughout the U.S., operates two divisions within its company: Madison Marquette Retail Services, which serves as its property management and leasing division; and Madison Marquette Property Investments, which serves as its real estate division for new development.

Madison Marquette assumed primary leasing and management responsibilities for Independence Mall in 2012, said Anne Williams, Madison Marquette vice president of management services.

And officials did not waste time making new changes.

Williams said officials first began working with Independence Mall’s anchor stores, particularly JCPenney and Belk, to find ways to freshen up their looks and enhance their offerings.

As a result, Williams said JCPenney launched a full-scale renovation of its store, adding new national housewares brands such as Martha Stewart Home Collection and Jonathan Adler bedding. Williams said the store has also focused on retooling its men’s and women’s clothing options, including a new Levi’s Denim Bar, and is gearing up to open a Sephora inside the store in spring 2014.

Belk, which owns 14.25 acres in and around the mall made up of its 180,000-square-foot store, outside parking lot space and two outparcel sites, has also upgraded its offerings.

Williams said Belk increased its designer brand options, including Lacoste clothing for men and Chip and Pepper jeans for women. She added the store also plans to roll out a Kiehl’s skincare and beauty counter in the coming months – a move that Williams said could be in response to JCPenney’s pending Sephora store.

Inside the mall, stores are also planning updates.

Browning said Hot Topic, a store that carries music and pop-culture inspired apparel, is planning to update its storefront. Sports Fan Attic is also planning a similar update. Browning added the mall is also preparing to open a Pretzel Maker eatery in its food court in the coming months.

But while leasing activity continues to increase in the mall, outparcel development is just getting started.

Browning said Madison Marquette officials were in “serious talks” with various national and regional restaurants looking to build new eateries on outparcels fronting Oleander Drive and Independence Boulevard.

Browning did not disclose what restaurant chains were eyeing the mall area. She said many are being lured to the area because of the diverse neighborhoods and incomes surrounding Independence Mall.

Within a 10-mile radius of the mall, more than 215,000 residents reside in a number of neighborhoods, ranging from Houston Moore to Forest Hills, according to a mall report. The site also sits along WAVE Transit’s bus route.

“That is really going to help drive future development at the mall,” Browning said of the area’s demographics.

In the spring, Starbucks retrofitted a former gas station into its newest coffee shop in Wilmington at the intersection of Oleander Drive and Independence Boulevard. And Panera Bread is slated to begin construction in the coming months on a new 4,750- square-foot restaurant on a 1.33-acre parcel at 3506 Oleander Drive.

“With the new Whole Foods and what’s taking place across the street in Hanover Center, Independence Mall can’t help but see some of that momentum,” Browning said. “We meet with prospective tenants all through the year, and when we show them the map of all the new retail and development surrounding the mall, they are impressed with the activity.”

Mall officials said despite the promise of new commercial development, including Barclays West – a 300-acre master-planned project bisected by Independence Boulevard between South 17th Street and Carolina Beach Road that could add more than 1.5 million square feet of retail and office space by build out in 2027 – Independence Mall will continue to be a major retail destination for the region.

“We strive to maintain a good synergy at the mall,” Williams said. “Our tenants have a synergy with each other and like to be where the competition is going to be.”