For Morgan Korous, general manager of Dave & Buster’s in Mayfaire Town Center, playing arcade games is a part of the job.

In his seven years with Dave & Buster’s, Korous has helped manage locations up and down the East Coast from Orlando to Charlotte and then Baltimore. He moved to Wilmington this spring to take the helm at the new Mayfaire venue.

The adult arcade chain, which officially opened on Memorial Day, is the latest brick-and-mortar space to add to the mix in Mayfaire Town Center, a 21-year-old mixed-use development not far from Wrightsville Beach that recently has witnessed an uptick in new retailers and chains with a nationwide presence.

Beyond its stores and restaurants, the Mayfaire area is evolving, as a nearby hotel reaches completion and developers outline plans for a new neighborhood that could bring nearly 500 apartments, townhomes and carriage homes to the area.

Over the past year, Mayfaire Town Center has added more upscale clothing retailers, including Free People, Aerie and J. Crew Factory. Mayfaire officials have said such stores have helped “elevate” the shopping center’s tenant mix.

Paige Coniglio, marketing director with Mayfaire owner CBL Properties, said the additions demonstrate a “commitment to continually enhancing the tenant mix at Mayfaire Town Center.”

“As the Wilmington market has continued to grow, Mayfaire is growing along with it, adding new retail, entertainment and hospitality options that are in line with the expectations of today’s consumer,” Coniglio wrote in an email.

In the weeks ahead of Dave & Buster’s grand opening, Korous fielded a flurry of inquiries from local influencers, business owners and neighbors wanting to tour Mayfaire’s new 22,000-square-foot arcade and restaurant.

Although it’s about half the size of a typical Dave & Buster’s, Korous said, the venue offers the same “sports bar arcade” feel, with a massive, 40-foot-wide TV screen capable of displaying multiple sports games at once.

“We pretty much have every single new game that came out this year,” Korous said about the facility’s arcade. “We have over 100 games here … Some of these games I didn’t even know (Dave & Buster’s) had, and they got them for us.”

The arcade features a wide range of games and amusements. Some require users to wear virtual reality goggles to play; others involve interactive playing screens. And several games offer an arcade-style take on sports such as basketball, baseball or dodgeball. There’s Pac-Man skee ball, a Top Gun: Maverick-themed game – Korous’ favorite, Mario Kart racing, miniature bowling and a few more traditional carnival-inspired games.

Mayfaire’s Dave & Buster’s, which has about 150 people on staff, also includes a full-service restaurant, sports lounge and areas that can be reserved for parties or small groups.

More new businesses are slated to open in the lifestyle shopping center later this year, according to Coniglio, including jewelry brand Kendra Scott, piercing studio Rowan and clothing brand Madewell. Adding new stores to the shopping center helps draw both shoppers and other businesses to the area, Coniglio said.

“The addition of these new-to-market brands not only appeals to customers but to potential tenants,” she said. “When high-profile brands such as these open and thrive at Mayfaire, it helps us attract upscale dining, boutique retail and wellness services that want to take advantage of the new traffic they draw.”

Currently, just one retail space is vacant inside Mayfaire Town Center – approximately 3,400 square feet at 924 Town Center Drive. Negotiations are underway with a potential tenant, according to Coniglio.

Diane and Daniel Perez said the shopping center’s diverse tenant mix was a key factor in their decision to open a Drybar-branded salon in the area.

“We chose to open in Mayfaire because we felt our brand and offerings would complement the existing mix of businesses and resonate well with the local clientele,” they wrote in an email.

The husband-and-wife duo began planning to open the store late last year with the goal of launching the new Drybar location this spring. They opened the salon in early May.

The Perezes said they expect the opening of Dave & Buster’s and an Element by Westin hotel, which is slated for completion this summer, will attract a “fresh wave” of visitors to the area. They see particular potential in catering to hotel guests.

Construction is wrapping up on the Element by Westin, a 139-room hotel at 1055 International Drive. The project, a joint venture between CBL Properties and Vision Hospitality Group, marks Element’s entrance into the Wilmington market. The brand caters to both short- and long-term stays with in-room kitchens and on-site laundry, among other amenities.

Mayfaire, which opened in 2004, has grown in phases over the past two decades. Following the opening of the center’s first anchor tenants, construction started on Mayfaire’s second phase in 2006.

Then, in 2015, Mayfaire bought 40 acres at 1105 Eastwood Road, on the backside of Mayfaire, to prepare for more growth. The shopping center’s third phase of expansion, which took place in 2016, added more than 46,000 square feet of retail space. Office buildings and residential neighborhoods add to the existing mix of uses in the Mayfaire area.

Earlier commercial and residential developments in the Military Cutoff Road corridor, including Landfall, The Forum and Landfall Center, along with the city of Wilmington’s mixed-use zoning designation ultimately helped pave the way for Mayfaire’s development.

Mayfaire Town Center co-developer BrodyCo announced plans this spring to bring another neighborhood, called Mayfaire West, to just over 42 acres of undeveloped land between Town Center Drive and Gregory Road. The project is expected to include 256 apartments and 223 carriage houses and townhomes.

Developers said they’ve spent years “carefully considering and designing the right project for the site.” BrodyCo purchased the land in 2015, and the proposed development has been shaped by market research, the city of Wilmington’s Comprehensive Plan and an understanding of the land and surrounding community.

“Today, Mayfaire Town Center has transformed the area into a vibrant destination where people can live, work, shop, play and dine,” BrodyCo officials wrote in a statement. “This adjacent piece of land presents a natural progression of that original vision – an opportunity to thoughtfully extend a thriving district that has already brought so much to the area.”

Developers plan to ask Wilmington officials to rezone the site from its current R-15, moderate-density single-dwelling district, and a mixed-use district to a conditional MD-10 and MD-17, medium- and high-density multiple-dwelling residential districts.

The project faced pushback from residents in the surrounding Windemere, Eastwood Village and Parkside neighborhoods, who have voiced concerns about the project’s density and how the development could affect ongoing traffic and stormwater issues in the area.

As of the publication deadline, developers said they hadn’t submitted a rezoning application for the project. Instead, they’re “continuing to refine” their plans, following feedback raised at a community meeting held in early May.

BrodyCo officials said they view Mayfaire West as a “natural step in the area’s continued growth, offering residents several different types of high-quality, well-connected living options that extend Mayfaire Town Center’s live, work, shop, dine and play concept.”