A residential real estate agency has moved its Wilmington office from Lumina Station to the commercial portion of a luxury apartment complex.

Landmark Sotheby's International Realty celebrated its grand opening Thursday in its new office building at The Grand View, a mixed-use development at 7204 Wrightsville Avenue near the bridge to Wrightsville Beach.

"We outgrew the space we had. We're occupying two floors of this new building and it just gives us not only a more prominent location that's truly at the epicenter of the market we serve, but it gives us much more space for our agents to do business," said founder and broker Nick Phillips.

The building gives the company three times the space the firm previously occupied, Phillips said. Other retailers occupy first floor space at The Grand View, including Cruz Restaurant, which catered the grand opening event Landmark Sotheby's and Porsche of Wilmington hosted Thursday afternoon and evening.

The event also included an art show with nine regional artists on display whose art was expected to remain in place for a few days after the opening party.

"We’re going to be holding regular events here where we showcase art work," Phillips said.

Eighteen agents will be working out of the new office. The firm has a total of 48 agents and four offices; the other three offices are in Southport, Topsail Island and Morehead City.

The company specializes in luxury and lifestyle real estate, including waterfront, golf, equestrian and historic properties, Phillips said.

A lagging luxury market has recently picked up steam.

"We've definitely seen a strong resurgence in luxury properties across the region in sales," Phillips said. "There’s still plenty of inventory in our market; however, when you zero in on waterfront and oceanfront properties in the luxury sector that are priced appropriately, they’re moving very well."

He cited as an example the home at 334 Cabbage Inlet Lane, at the confluence of Whiskey Creek and the Intracoastal Waterway, that sold in March for $3.295 million with multiple offers and closed for the list price. 

While luxury is a specialty, a home doesn't have to be in the $1 million or up price range to be marketed by the firm, Phillips said.

"We like to say we have million-dollar marketing for properties in all price ranges," he said. "That means that most of our listings are lifestyle real estate in that they’re located on an island, they’re waterfront, they’re in an amenity community, but those properties span across all price ranges."

Landmark Sotheby's is leasing the office space from Grand View Holdings for an undisclosed amount.