Cary Towne Center closed, but this place will remain after Epic Games builds its new HQ
Epic Games might be on the cusp of the future of gaming, but you’ll still be able to enjoy old school arcade games at the site of its planned headquarters in Cary.
Dave & Buster’s, the national sports bar and arcade chain, will be a tenant at Epic Games’ future redevelopment of Cary Towne Center, a spokeswoman for Epic Games said Monday.
Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite and the visualization tool Unreal Engine, bought the 40-year-old mall on Dec. 31 for $95 million, and plans to move its workforce to a new headquarters there by 2024.
The mall had been in decline for many years, and it officially closed its doors Sunday, with every tenant except Dave & Buster’s ceasing operations.
Elka Looks, corporate communications director for Epic Games, told The News & Observer in an email that Dave & Buster’s will be relocated to available space in the future Epic Games development.
Looks said it will be located at a “standalone adjacent building” on the 87-acre mall property.
Dave & Buster’s has not responded to The News & Observer’s request for comment. In a sign posted at its Cary location, the company wrote that it would be part of the new development and “will be relocating across campus at a future date.”
Future plans unknown
Epic Games hasn’t discussed what its future headquarters development will look like, with many wondering whether the entire property might be inaccessible to the public.
The Dave & Buster’s news is the clearest indication yet that some portion of the property will be accessible to the public.
Looks said it’s still too early to provide specific plans, but added that the company intends to maintain some retail adjacent to the headquarters.
She added that Epic is “committed to working with the Town of Cary to explore ways some of this property might be used by the community.”
That could possibly include a publicly funded sports complex that the town had been planning for the mall’s property. The $193 million sports complex was envisioned as a way to attract more youth sports tournaments to the area and provide other amenities to residents.
The whole complex is set to receive $35 million of taxpayer money set aside to promote tourism in Wake County, but its future was put up in the air by the sale of the property to Epic Games.
Turnbridge Equities, the previous owner of the property, had set aside 17 acres for the sports complex.
Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht told The N&O in January that the town is committed to the sports complex, regardless of the sale to Epic Games.
“Whether that is on the mall site or somewhere else nearby,” he said.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
