The flagging Ford City Mall on Chicago’s Southwest Side must close by noon on June 22, a Cook County judge ruled Friday.
The order from Circuit Judge Leonard Murray came in response to city officials citing decay at the property as “imminent danger” to tenants and shoppers. The city has listed flooding, exposed wiring and potential sinkholes as hazards.
Murray’s order affects about two dozen retailers, including the mall’s last anchor tenant, JCPenney. Other stores listed in his order include Foot Locker, Sam’s Furniture and Victoria’s Secret.
The forced closure comes after years of declining sales at the mall, 7601 S. Cicero Ave. Its owner is Namdar Realty Group, a Great Neck, New York-based firm that specializes in distressed property.
Murray’s order doesn’t affect a nearby movie theater, outbuildings and a section north of the main mall that includes Planet Fitness. Namdar was ordered to maintain a fire suppression system that serves those properties.
Ald. Derrick Curtis, whose 18th Ward includes the mall, has accused Namdar of letting the property slide and doing nothing to stop “drifting” takeovers of its parking lot, where drivers loudly spin their tires.
“We’ve been asking for security on the grounds there for years,” Curtis said. He called the judge’s decision “a huge win” that could spur redevelopment of the roughly 60-acre parcel, where Dodge built aircraft engines in World War II and Ford did the same in the Korean War.
A developer kept the Ford name to introduce the site as a mall in 1965. It long ago boasted a Carson Pirie Scott and Sears as anchors.
Curtis has told constituents that Kurv Industrial wants to replace the mall with warehouses or light manufacturing.
“I’m hoping to talk with them very soon because this is an important piece of the community,” he said.
Namdar didn’t respond to a request for comment.
JCPenney said in an email, “Despite our best efforts to remain at Ford City Mall, JCPenney will close this location to the public by June 21, 2026, as a result of the city of Chicago’s motion to vacate the property due to safety concerns not addressed by the landlord. We are actively exploring opportunities for a new store location in the surrounding Chicago area.”
The retailer also has a store in Chicago Ridge Mall at 98th Street and Ridgeland Avenue.
During a brief court hearing Friday, Greg Janes, assistant corporation counsel for the city, said all parties in the case have agreed to the June 22 shutdown. Murray was expected to sign the order later Friday.