Winnetka's 2026 Openings Came Through Old Storefronts, Not the New Building

At 912 Green Bay Road in Hubbard Woods, the jewelry cases are gone. Lana Jewelry's former storefront now holds a wall of chocolate and a café counter pouring hot and cold drinks. Hotel Chocolat was set to open there on Saturday, April 4.

That storefront swap is the pattern for Winnetka's whole year. The town's biggest construction project and its most-discussed piece of land are both on the Elm Street side of downtown, and neither has opened a door. The new places this year moved into buildings that were already there. Fall 2026 in Winnetka runs on the existing stock of storefronts, and the calendar from now through the end of November reflects that.

Three openings, zero new buildings

The confirmed 2026 openings and expansions all reuse space that already existed.

The Lake Effect sells curated apparel, accessories and homewares from a corner that was a florist until recently. Avli took the other route and grew inside its own footprint. The 2,400 additional square feet came with a lounge and a reworked menu under a new chef, so a familiar Winnetka name now has more room and a new room type.

Hubbard Woods also showed that older buildings come with older-building interruptions. On Thursday, Aug. 27, a facade came down at 924 Green Bay Road, and Spirit Elephant closed for the rest of that day. It reopened Friday night, so the block lost one dinner service, and only one.

One Winnetka is built, but its storefronts are still empty

The new building at Elm Street and Lincoln Avenue is the reason this fall looks the way it does. According to the Village's Summer 2026 Winnetka Report, general contractor Walsh Construction has topped the building out at four stories. Streetscape and other public improvements run from August through December, and substantial completion of the full project is expected in that same window.

The scale explains why its delay affects the whole downtown. Once finished, the 195,933-square-foot building will hold 59 rental apartments on floors two through four and 19,600 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. It will also have 151 enclosed parking spaces, 39 of them set aside for customers or employees of the commercial tenants. Developer Murphy Development Group has said the ground floor is fully leased, with spaces expected to be turned over to tenants in October.

Being turned over to tenants is not the same as opening. The commercial tenants were scheduled to start opening in early 2027, and that is still a forecast, not a confirmed date. The announced tenants are:

• A Mediterranean restaurant from Ballyhoo Hospitality, the group behind Winnetka's Pomeroy, Wilmette's Sophia Steak and Highland Park's DeNucci's
• Fare, a natural-food, fast-casual restaurant
• Solidcore, a fitness studio
• Charles Schwab
• DUET Audiology Clinic
• Winnetka Aesthetic Studio

As of the last public report, in June, the Ballyhoo restaurant had no new name. It was announced as Arkadia, but at the June 16 Village Council meeting an attorney for the group said that name can't be used, for unspecified reasons, and that a new one was being chosen.

The same meeting changed the corner itself. Trustees voted unanimously to replace the planned public plaza at Elm and Lincoln with a 17-table, 74-seat outdoor dining area for the Ballyhoo restaurant, ringed by planters of native grasses. Planned hours are 4:30 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4:30 to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Winnetka's outdoor dining season runs from April 1 to Nov. 30, and most of the planters go into storage the rest of the year. If the restaurant opens in early 2027 as scheduled, the patio's first possible night is April 1, 2027, about a year after the building started rising out of its foundation. Four maples planned for that corner won't be planted. Ballyhoo has offered four magnolias on private property next door, plus $20,000 for electric vehicle charging stations and $5,000 for up to five more trees elsewhere in town, possibly at the former post office site.

The post office lot is waiting on a year-end decision

A short walk from One Winnetka, the land at 512 Chestnut Street has been a Village redevelopment candidate for 40 years. This year it finally cleared. The post office moved to 586 Lincoln Ave. in December 2025. In March, trustees approved a demolition contract, and by June the building was gone. The $585,000 contract also covered site restoration, including green space and parking improvements.

What happens next is still open. At a June 9 open house in Village Hall, consultants from Teska Associates showed concepts ranging from a plain lawn to a full mixed-use building with retail, residential units and underground parking. About an hour in, roughly 60 people had left feedback. The posters that drew the most interaction showed mixed-use options, including a one-and-a-half-story restaurant and a four-story mixed-use building. Several residents The Record spoke with asked for more green space. The Village President's summer message says the Council intends to set a direction for the site by the end of the year. Even the fastest of those options would mean nothing new opens at 512 Chestnut this fall.

The Lake Effect's address, 547 Chestnut, is on the same street. For now, the newest shop on Chestnut is open for business and the lot down the street is still waiting for its future.

Where October and November actually happen

With the new building and the cleared lot both on hold, the fall calendar sits on established ground. Hubbard Woods Park, at 939 Green Bay Road, is the main venue. It's a short walk from the Green Bay Road block where Hotel Chocolat took over the old jewelry storefront, and it hosts two of the month's biggest dates.

1. Winnetka Farmers' Market, Oct. 17, 24 and 31. The Chamber market runs 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 754 Elm Street on all three of the season's remaining Saturdays.
2. Winnetka Witches Ride, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. Riders leave Hubbard Woods Park for a three-and-a-half-mile ride through town that ends at Fred's Garage. The $75 entry donation supports Henry's Heroes, which funds epilepsy research and resources, and includes a raffle ticket.
3. Pumpkins in the Woods, Oct. 23, 4 to 6 p.m. The Winnetka Park District's event at Hubbard Woods Park includes pumpkin decorating, carnival games, bounce houses and a costume parade. A $7 registration covers a pumpkin and decorations, and everything else is free.
4. Fuelfed Coffee & Classics, Oct. 25, 9 to 11 a.m. It's at 111 North Green Bay Road, according to the Village calendar.
5. Superintendent's Revenge, Oct. 31 at 10 a.m. Winnetka Golf Club, at 1300 Oak St., closes October with a shotgun-start, two-person scramble on deliberately tough pin placements. Tickets are $40, or $25 for passholders, and include greens fees, two drink tickets, prizes and a team skins game.
6. Schmidt-Burnham Log House, Nov. 1, 8 and 15. The log house is open 2 to 4 p.m. on each of those Sundays.

Full Park District listings, including a Nov. 14 geological exploration program, are on the Winnetka Park District events page. Outdoor dining season closes on Nov. 30. After that, the next set of dates to watch is the end of One Winnetka's streetscape work in December, the Council's decision on 512 Chestnut by year-end, and the early 2027 openings at Elm and Lincoln.

Two empty spaces in the middle of downtown can change what nearby storefronts are worth over the next year, and that applies in Hubbard Woods and on Chestnut, too. If you own near Elm, Chestnut or Green Bay Road and want to know how One Winnetka and the post office decision could affect your home's value, Geoff Brown Team can walk you through it with a free home valuation.