Market Street Wilmington NC: New Openings for Fall 2026

Kenan Fountain is running again at Fifth Avenue. A former ice and coal building at 1202 Market Street now pours beer under 1920s movie-theater seats. A dessert shop has taken over a former soda counter out past Kerr. A tiki bar is renovating the downtown space that used to be Dram & Draught.

All of this fall's news on Market Street sits inside something the street already had: a 1921 landmark, a warehouse, a storefront, a bar. Only one project on the corridor is a true new build, and it is targeting fall 2027. Read from the river outward, Market Street this autumn is mostly reuse, and that tells you what will change on your drive this year and what won't.

The fountain came back first

Kenan Fountain started working again in late August after nearly three years out of service. Port City Daily reported that it stopped working after a contract worker for the North Carolina Department of Transportation hit the bowl during a repaving and resurfacing project.

The fix took nine months and cost $335,500, according to the City of Wilmington figures Port City Daily cited. The work covered restoration, new plumbing, bench repairs, and corrections to the east and west balusters. It was paid for with capital project and contingency funds, plus money from an insurance settlement. The barriers came down from the roundabout on a Friday, which reopened unobstructed travel where state-maintained Market Street meets city-maintained Fifth Avenue.

That roundabout has a long history with traffic. Port City Daily counts almost two dozen incidents at the fountain in the last two decades alone. In 1953 the State Highway Commission asked for it to be removed, and city council voted only to shrink its footprint. Lighting was added in 2013 to help reduce the traffic risk.

The fountain is 14 feet of carved Indiana limestone, given to the city in 1921 by the Kenan family and dedicated by William R. Kenan Jr. to his parents, William R. Kenan Sr. and Mary Hargrave Kenan. The same Port City Daily article also notes that Kenan Sr. was one of the commanders of an insurgent group during the Wilmington 1898 Coup and Massacre.

The streets around the fountain were already finished. The city says its Fifth Avenue street, sidewalk and water-utility project, which ran from Greenfield Street to Market Street, wrapped up in late 2025. That work included resurfacing, sidewalk and curb repairs, bike lanes, and utility replacement. So the fountain was the last missing piece at an intersection that had already been rebuilt.

Seven blocks east, a warehouse became a screening room

Hollywood East Brewseum opened September 18 at 1202 Market Street, according to a StarNews restaurant roundup republished by the Charlotte Observer. It is the clearest example of the reuse pattern on the corridor.

WilmingtonBiz reported that owners Tyler Christensen and his husband, Patrick McCarthy, set up in the former Rose Ice & Coal building. Working with contractor DAE Building, they turned the old convenience-store area into an Art Deco lounge with 1920s seats from a Los Angeles movie theater and door handles made from an old film reel. A former warehouse became the taproom. As of that early-September report, they were also turning a former garage into seating with roll-up doors at both ends and landscaping the front for outdoor seating.

The display cases hold items from productions shot in the region:

• A costume James Van Der Beek wore in the Dawson's Creek pilot
• Scream masks signed by Skeet Ulrich and Mikey Madison, from the 2022 installment filmed in the area
• The raincoat worn by The Fisherman in I Know What You Did Last Summer, shot in Southport

Both owners work in the film industry. Some pieces came from friends tied to local productions, others they already owned or bought at auction, and the displays will rotate. Christensen described the effect to WilmingtonBiz this way:

"The more you look, the more you see."

The menu is a dressed-up concession stand. Popcorn, hot dogs and soft pretzels share the list with hot honey cheese pretzel bites, pickle bombs, cheese curds, sweet potato waffle fries and donut holes. Hi-Wire Brewing makes a Blueberry Velvet beer for the Brewseum. Other local breweries supply beers relabeled as One Tree Pils, Under the Foam, I Know Wheat You Did Last Summer and IPA Records. The StarNews roundup also lists a Yeast Bound & Down and an RJ Decktober.

Check the schedule before you go. The Brewseum's posted hours are Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday noon to 8 p.m. and Monday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. The owners have said they plan to host movie screenings and trivia, but no dates had been announced.

The same move, at both ends of the street

The Brewseum is the biggest example of the pattern, but not the only one. The same thing is happening at both ends of Market Street.

Near the river, Abby and Jonathan Beland are renovating 109 Market Street, the former Dram & Draught space, for Lost & Found Tiki Bar. WilmingtonBiz reported in late August that it was expected to open this fall, with no firm date set while renovation continued. As of mid-October we haven't seen a confirmed opening, so treat it as coming, not open.

Out in the commercial stretch, 816 Dessert & Drinks is open at 5214 Market Street in the former Coastal Coolers dirty soda shop. The StarNews roundup lists mille crêpe cakes in matcha, mango and crème brûlée, plus waffles, smoothies, ice cream, milk teas, fruit teas and coffee. One drink counter replaced another in the same storefront.

The one ground-up project, and its timeline

The exception is at Market Street and Kerr Avenue. The Grove on Market at 4302 Market Street replaces the single-story North 17 shopping center, which housed Elizabeth's Pizza and the grocery Asian Life Market, among other businesses. Demolition wrapped up earlier this year.

WilmingtonBiz reported on September 29 that vertical construction is underway on a planned five-story building. It would have about 12,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space and 55 apartments above, according to Annamaria Lookman, CEO of developer Quantum Real Estate. The contractor is Harold K. Jordan & Co. Quantum bought the 1.6-acre site in January 2025 for $1.16 million, according to property records cited in the same report.

The project is targeting completion in fall 2027. Lookman told the Business Journal that Elizabeth's Pizza will reopen there "with full dine-in capacity." No other tenants have been named. The land changed hands in January 2025, and the developer's target for finishing the building is fall 2027.

Market Street from the river out, this October

Here is the corridor in driving order as of October 12, 2026:

1. 109 Market St. Lost & Found Tiki Bar, under renovation, expected this fall, no date set.
2. Fifth Avenue and Market St. Kenan Fountain, running and lit, with the roundabout open.
3. 1202 Market St. Hollywood East Brewseum, open Thursday through Monday.
4. North 19th to North 20th streets. The site of an overnight Cape Fear Public Utility Authority water repair that WECT reported would close two westbound lanes starting at 9 p.m. October 7, with a detour via North 20th, Princess and North 19th.
5. 4302 Market St. The Grove on Market, in vertical construction, targeting fall 2027.
6. 5214 Market St. 816 Dessert & Drinks, open.

For a downtown plan at the end of the month, Wilmington Downtown, Inc. lists the Great Downtown Pumpkin Hunt on October 31. It is organized with the Downtown Business Alliance and the City, though the listing doesn't give a route.

This pattern matters for property too. When an old building is reused, a street can change in a single season. A ground-up project takes years and shows up on a construction calendar long before it opens. If you're weighing a home near the Market Street corridor and want to know which nearby changes are already open and which are still on a timeline, Maxx Jackson can go through it block by block with you. Schedule a Consultation.