A new shopping center in Porters Neck is filling with tenants as northern New Hanover County continues to grow.

Sugarwood Interiors, a home furnishing store and the anchor tenant for Sugarwood Center, 167 Porters Neck Road, opened its doors Jan. 2, according to a news release.

The nearly 12,000-square-foot center's owners and developers, Jim and Janece Stone, are 20-year residents of Porters Neck, and Janece Stone's art background led to the opening of Sugarwood Interiors, the release stated.

"We were originally seeking a space to headquarter our fire and water restoration company, Stone Development & Restoration. When we came across this location, we knew it would be ideal for both businesses,” said Janece Stone, who is also the owner of Sugarwood Interiors, in the release.

While Sugarwood Interiors is the first business to open in the newly constructed Sugarwood Center, Physical Therapy Services of Wilmington, Stone Development & Restoration and Amplifly Cycle & Strength, a spin cycling and fitness studio, are scheduled to join the tenant line-up in the spring of this year, according to the release.

Amplifly owner Ali Nyquist said the center is just five minutes away from the Porters Neck home where she and her husband, Ryan, a professional freestyle BMX and freestyle mountain bike athlete, live. The commercial broker who helped them, Justin Mullarkey, along with his wife, Jenny, of Eastern Trust Real Estate of Greenville, found Sugarwood Center in its beginning stages, and "they just felt there was something really special about it and they thought it would be a great place for me. I trusted them and I also fell in love with the space," Ali Nyquist said.

For the Nyquist family, fitness is a way of life -- Ryan Nyquist has his eye on the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and Ali Nyquist, a triathlete, has been in the fitness industry for 11 years, doing personal training and group fitness, among other accomplishments, she said.

"We're just excited to introduce people to a new style of indoor cycling as well as offer them a variety of classes, such as yoga, mat Pilates and small group functional fitness training," Ali Nyquist said, adding that the fitness center will also offer childcare. 
  
Janece Stone said developing a commercial center is a natural extension for the Stones -- they have completed projects in Raleigh that include a Family Dollar store and a 20-unit apartment complex.

But for Janece Stone, Sugarwood Interiors "has been a real passion project for me personally. I've always helped my husband with the construction business, but always loved everything related to home interiors and design. I am so thankful getting this opportunity to have my own business doing something I really enjoy."

Sugarwood Interiors is an upscale furniture and accessories store with a relaxed coastal farmhouse atmosphere, the release stated.

Coldwell Banker Commercial SunCoast brokers Cody Cress and Tyler Pegg of The Cress Group in Wilmington are the listing agents for Sugarwood Center.

The center has been attracting numerous potential tenants, Pegg and Cress said.

"We’re getting a lot of interest, from brand new businesses to people opening additional locations up in the Porters Neck submarket," where they’re feeling more comfortable with the growth in and stability of the Porters Neck area, Cress said.

Janece Stone said, "All of the sudden, in the last few years, there's more housing, there's more development, and now there's more commercial development. It seemed like the right time."

She said in the release, “With only three available spaces remaining in Sugarwood Center, we plan to attract upscale retail or healthy food stores to complete the center."