Magnolia Village, a retail and office center just off U.S. 17 in Leland, has seen a wave of new leases in recent months, along with the start of construction on a new, nearly 8,000-square-foot building.

The center, which was developed in the late 90s and early 2000s at the entrance of Magnolia Greens Golf Plantation, was among the first large-scale commercial centers in the Leland area, said Cam Stephens, vice president with center developer and owner Landmark Commercial.

New leases in Landmark Commercial-owned buildings include Evoke Mind and Body, a comprehensive wellness center offering therapy, yoga and health coaching, mental health service provider Beach Brain PLLC, medical spa Beach Medical Aesthetics and Chesapeake Homes, according to Tyler Pegg and Cody Cress with Wilmington-based firm Sun Coast Partners Commercial, who serve as listing agents for the Magnolia Village commercial center.

Other new tenants, including Fred Astaire Dance Studio and E.A. Buck Financial Services, have leased the remaining square footage in a building at 1217 Magnolia Village Way owned by Deana Cook of Cook Periodontics & Dental Implants, Pegg said. Cook’s business occupies about two-thirds of the building.

“Magnolia Village as a whole, the tenant mixture has skewed more toward office and medical rather than traditional retail. That wasn’t by initial design, but rather just by responding to the market’s interest,” Stephens said. “Many medical and office users tend to value being around similar businesses, and over time, that’s naturally shaped the identity of the project, so it’s evolved more into a business park environment rather than a traditional retail center.”

Pegg said he’s seeing lots of commercial activity in Leland, not just for medical users but across the board.

“You have a growing population,” he said, “and you've got businesses that have seen success in Wilmington, and it's overflowing into Leland.”

At Magnolia Village, construction is also underway on a 7,800-square-foot building that’s planned for one of the retail center’s two undeveloped outparcels. The building includes two 2,400-square-foot units, Stephens said, which have been leased to Peak Performance Sports and Physical Therapy and Indulgences Spa.

The final 3,000-square-foot end unit remains available with 600 square feet of covered outdoor patio space that could be enclosed, depending on the tenant’s needs, Stephens said. He added that ongoing commercial demand prompted the building's construction.

“We’ve had these two lots remaining for quite some time,” he said, “and with the amount of demand from the market and from existing tenants and steady leasing activity, we decided to go ahead and break ground.”

Stephens said the company doesn’t have any immediate plans for the remaining outparcel, but sees the ongoing demand for commercial space at the center as a product of residential growth throughout the area.

“You've got this explosion of residential growth that needs good commercial to support it,” he said, “and that goes along with everything from retail to local service businesses, trades and industrial users, and so there’s been a variety of new stuff that has popped up recently.”