Wilmette's retail vacancy rate stands at 6%, down from 9% in 2024, as new businesses and a major condo project reshape the Green Bay Road corridor.

The data comes from a New Trier News feature published Monday, Sept. 14, citing Village of Wilmette figures. The feature tracks a downtown that has added restaurants, shops and hundreds of housing units since 2015.

Village Manager Michael Braiman signaled the trend in January, telling the Chicago Tribune the vacancy rate stood at 6% as of September 2025. He said officials were hopeful new openings at Plaza del Lago and Edens Plaza would push it to around 5%, the lowest since before the pandemic. "We feel really good about where our economic development has gone and is going," Braiman said at the time.

The biggest project still ahead is Optima Lumina, a seven-story condominium building planned for 721-739 Green Bay Road, the former Imperial Motors site directly across from the Wilmette Metra station. The Village Board voted 6-1 to approve the development in October 2024. On Aug. 25, trustees amended the planned unit development agreement to allow up to 133 for-sale units, five more than the original 128.

Condo sales are underway. Prices are anticipated to start in the $595,000s for a one-bedroom and reach $4.59 million for a four-bedroom, according to Patch. The building will also include 5,700 to 5,900 square feet of ground-floor retail. The Starbucks at 739 Green Bay Road plans to relocate into the new space when the building opens.

As of Aug. 25, Optima had not applied for village construction permits, according to village officials cited by The Record North Shore. A timeline from Optima suggests construction could begin later this year, with residents moving in as early as summer 2028.

Demand for housing near downtown Wilmette is already strong. Optima's adjacent Verdana building at 1210 Central Ave., a 100-unit rental community completed in 2023, is fully leased with a waitlist. Since 2015, the village has added 225 multifamily units, according to the Village of Wilmette's housing plan. Wilmette's median home sale price climbed from $658,500 in 2020 to $1,122,500 in 2024, an average annual increase of 14.1%.

The corridor's pull extends beyond housing. Hermès opened at Plaza del Lago on Sheridan Road in August, joining tenants like Space 519, Lilly Pulitzer and Veronica Beard at the shopping center, which Boston-based WS Development purchased in June 2022. David Hovey Jr., president of Optima, said in a July statement announcing condo sales that the project builds on what residents appreciate about the adjacent Verdana building.

Whether the vacancy rate reaches the 5% target Braiman outlined in January depends on whether Optima Lumina's retail space fills and new tenants stick. The village's next construction-permit filings for the project will be the clearest signal.