The Starbucks at 739 Green Bay Road in downtown Wilmette has a new address picked out: the ground floor of Optima Lumina, the 133-unit luxury condominium tower rising directly across from the Metra station at Green Bay Road and Washington Avenue.
The coffee chain will relocate into one of the development's retail spaces when Optima Lumina opens in 2028, according to The Record North Shore, citing an Optima press release. The new space will include dedicated outdoor seating and off-street parking.
The move puts a national chain coffee shop roughly one block from Central Station Coffee + Tea, the independent café at 1150 Central Ave. owned by Wilmette resident Katie Degen. Central Station also operates a commuter bodega inside the Wilmette Metra station at 722 Green Bay Road, steps from the current Starbucks location.
Degen opened Central Station in 2021 and celebrated its five-year anniversary June 4. In a July profile with Patch, she described visiting more than 400 coffee shops before launching her own. "I built this coffee shop for Wilmette, and I feel like people get that when they see it," Degen said in that interview.
The bigger picture on Green Bay Road
Optima Lumina's 5,718 square feet of ground-floor commercial space will join the roughly 8,000 square feet of retail already operating at Optima Verdana next door at 1210 Central Ave. Together, the two Optima buildings will bring nearly 14,000 square feet of storefront retail to a stretch of Green Bay Road formerly anchored by the largely vacant Imperial Motors car dealership.
The vote was 6-1.
Wilmette trustees approved the seven-story project on October 22, 2024, and at that meeting Village President Senta Plunkett called it "exactly the type of development desired by our comprehensive plan," adding that widened sidewalks, a public plaza, and a new pedestrian crosswalk would make the area "much more pedestrian friendly."
David Hovey Jr. of Glencoe-based Optima projected the building's 10-year fiscal impact on Wilmette at more than $12 million. As part of its zoning agreement, Optima will contribute $3.8 million toward affordable housing, more than double the $1.6 million it contributed with Optima Verdana.
Sales and timeline
Optima launched condo sales in mid-July from a gallery at 711 Green Bay Road on the ground floor of Optima Verdana. Units range from $595,000 for a one-bedroom to $4.59 million for a four-bedroom. Jameson Sotheby's International Realty is representing sales alongside Optima Real Estate Inc.
A groundbreaking date has not been publicly confirmed. As of January, Optima planned to break ground in late 2026 if sales went well, according to Chicago YIMBY.
The building will feature a terracotta facade, a 75-foot-wide publicly accessible plaza with outdoor seating and a fountain, and a new pedestrian crosswalk funded by Optima across Green Bay Road near Washington Avenue.
