Gurnee Antique Market to be leveled, replaced by hotel
A developer has purchased the site of the recently closed Gurnee Antique Market near I-94 to build a 114-room hotel, according to village officials.
Jack Linehan, the assistant to the village administrator, said Woodsprings Suites purchased 2.64 acres of land at 5742 Northridge Drive in Gurnee. The company intends to demolish the 21,000-square-foot market to build the hotel, Linehan said.
Angelo Labriola, a vice president of SVN Chicago Commercial, represented Gurnee Antique Market in the sale. Labriola said the owners sold the land to a broker for $1 million.
The land is between Gurnee Mills, Six Flags Great America and Great Wolf Lodge. Other nearby businesses on Northridge Drive include an Extended Stay America, a Cracker Barrel and a La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham.
"It's great exposure," Labriola said of the location, which is adjacent to I-94. "It's definitely a great spot for a hotel site."
Labriola said the owners decided to put the building on the market in February of 2019. He said they signed a contract with the eventual buyer in August of 2019, but the sale was contingent on various municipal approvals that were delayed because of the global pandemic.
The site was run as the Gurnee Antique Center from 1998 until 2015 under previous owners. New owners bought it and changed the name to Gurnee Antique Market. The market closed for business in May.
"The writing was on the wall," Labriola said. "The antique sales were slowing down and everything was going online."