Leland Village, the Publix-anchored center being built on the far side of U.S. 17 from Brunswick Forest, was 93% leased as of mid-August 2026. Of the roughly 17 tenants named so far, only one has a published opening target. The grocery store is slated for early 2027. Eleven of the others signed leases in the latest round, five more were announced earlier, and none of them has a date attached.
The Wilmington StarNews placed the project "across from Brunswick Forest" in an April 1 report, when construction was already visible from U.S. 17. The same report put it at the intersection of U.S. 17 and a road it described as "proposed Kingsbridge Road." The developer is Branch Properties, an Atlanta firm. WilmingtonBiz reports that it closed on the site in spring 2025 and describes the finished center at nearly 132,000 square feet. The two outlets give different acreage figures, but they agree on the location and the anchor.
Sorted by how often you'd go, the lease list looks like a week of errands
Taken as a flat list, the names read like any new strip center. Sorted by purpose, they look like a single place to handle most routine errands. Here is every tenant named in the August coverage, grouped by the kind of trip it serves:
- Weekly groceries: Publix Super Market, the anchor
- Pets: Hollywood Feed, a pet specialty retailer
- Banking: Chase Bank
- Appointments: Heartland Dental, EmergeOrtho, Sport Clips, a nail salon, Glo MedSpa
- Fitness: FS8 Pilates, a boutique studio
- Shopping: Marshalls and Ulta Beauty as junior anchors, plus Mattress Firm
- Quick food and takeout: Domino's Pizza, Wingstop, Qdoba
- Sit-down breakfast and lunch: First Watch
- Dessert: Handel's Ice Cream
Of the restaurants on that list, only First Watch is a sit-down concept, and its menu is built around daytime meals. The rest is takeout, delivery, fast-casual and an ice cream counter. No dinner restaurant appears on the announced roster. The center is organized around the errands that fill a Tuesday more than around a Friday night out.
Branch Properties' own description matches this reading. In the developer's news release, as WilmingtonBiz reported, partner Brett Horowitz wrote:
"This diverse mix of national and regional retail, dining and service concepts will give the growing Leland community a true one-stop shopping destination, and we look forward to Publix opening its doors early next year."
"One-stop" is the operative phrase. A dentist, a pet store, a bank and a grocery store sharing one parking lot let you finish several errands on one stop. For Brunswick Forest, that stop will sit directly across the highway.
Why Publix's date is the one that matters
Everything at Leland Village is arranged around the grocery store, and so is the published timeline. WilmingtonBiz reported on August 19 that Publix "is slated to open in early 2027." WECT ran its own story six days later and described the whole center as "expected to open in early 2027." No later coverage has moved that target. With today's date of October 11, 2026, early 2027 is roughly three to six months away. That holds only if "early" means what it usually does in a developer's release, and only if construction stays on schedule.
Neither outlet gave a separate opening date for Handel's, First Watch, Marshalls or any other tenant. The two lists also differ slightly. WilmingtonBiz names Qdoba among the eleven newest leases, and WECT's list leaves Qdoba out. WilmingtonBiz printed the fuller roster, so Qdoba appears on the list above. Its status should be treated as reported by one outlet rather than confirmed by both.
That leaves 7% of the center unleased as of August. The name of whatever fills that space has not been reported.
The one name that's new to the area
Most of the Leland Village roster is made up of familiar national brands. Handel's Ice Cream is the exception. WilmingtonBiz describes it as "a first for the Wilmington area." The center's only first-in-the-region tenant is a scoop shop rather than a restaurant or retailer. Among the openings coming to this stretch of U.S. 17, it is the one that sits across the river from Wilmington proper.
The center itself is also part of a larger pattern. Branch Properties is developing several other Publix-anchored centers in the Southeast, including the Commons at Carolina Shores in Calabash, according to WilmingtonBiz. Leland Village follows a format this developer is building up and down the coast, which helps explain why the tenant list reads like a template for convenience.
Up the corridor, the projects stand at different stages
Leland Village is the most visible change near Brunswick Forest, but other projects along the U.S. 17 corridor are moving too. Each sits at a different stage. Ordered from the plan furthest along to the earliest:
- Leland Village, under construction. It is visible from the highway, 93% leased, and its anchor is targeted for early 2027.
- Novant Health's outpatient surgery center, under construction with a 2026 target. Novant broke ground in April 2025 on a 16,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center at 9151 Ocean Highway East. It is designed with two operating rooms and two procedure rooms for general surgery, urologic surgery, orthopedic surgery and endoscopy or colonoscopy procedures. In a March 30, 2026 release, Novant still described the center as opening "this year." No public announcement has yet confirmed that it opened.
- Texas Roadhouse at Leland Town Center, approved. WWAY reported in January 2025 that the developer was targeting a 2026 opening at Leland Town Center. The StarNews reported on April 24, 2026 that Leland town staff had approved the restaurant. No construction progress or opening date has been reported since.
- Novant Health Leland Medical Center, state-approved. The same March 2026 release said North Carolina had approved Novant's proposed 20-bed hospital near Compass Pointe along U.S. 74/76. Plans include a 24/7 emergency department, imaging, 10 observation beds and five procedure rooms. No street address or opening timeline has been published.
Read together, the list shows a pattern. Most of what is coming to this corridor serves routine needs: groceries, appointments, outpatient procedures, emergency care. The corridor's one reported dinner restaurant, Texas Roadhouse, is still at the approval stage.
U.S. 17 remains between Brunswick Forest and Leland Village
"Across from Brunswick Forest" also describes a barrier. U.S. 17 sits between the community and the new center, and none of the Leland Village coverage so far describes a new traffic signal or road improvement tied to the project. The StarNews still referred to Kingsbridge Road as "proposed" in April 2026. How the main entrance will tie into the highway has not been described in detail.
The one U.S. 17 pedestrian project the Town of Leland has listed nearby is a separate effort at Ploof Road and Olde Waterford Way. It includes an at-grade crossing and about 300 feet of sidewalk. According to the town's project page, the latest milestone was final design approval on January 19, 2026, and the project was awaiting formal NCDOT approval. No construction date has been posted.
For now, U.S. 17 separates Brunswick Forest from Publix, Handel's and First Watch. Once Leland Village fills in, the dentist, the pet store and the grocery store will share one parking lot.
If you're keeping track of what opens along U.S. 17 and how it changes the feel of the Brunswick Forest side of Leland, I follow these projects closely as part of my work in the area. I'm always glad to share what I'm hearing as dates firm up. Reach out to Stephanie Vogel anytime. Let's Connect.
