Malls · Illinois

Ford City Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedClosedChicago, IL

Opened 1965. Closed 2026. Redeveloped.

Status nowClosedextracted, unreviewed

What it becameindustrialextracted, unreviewed

Retrofit yearNot yet retrofittedstatus

Walkability15 of 20 · 15-minute 5 of 6EPA, OpenStreetMap

Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD

Ask who owns this Download dossier (PDF) · early access Download record (JSON) API Share LinkedIn Correct this record

Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from.

Ford City Mall. Photo: AlphaBeta135, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile21 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors

Carson Pirie Scott

This site: Carson Pirie Scott wikipedia · all sites with this

JCPenney

This site: JCPenney wikipedia · all sites with this

Montgomery Ward

This site: Montgomery Ward wikipedia · all sites with this

Finance and pipeline

Attention rising (Wikipedia views +50% y/y)

This site: 24,742 views, +53% wikimedia · all sites with this

High attention (20k+ Wikipedia views a year)

This site: 24,742 wikimedia · all sites with this

Website alive

This site: …https://www.shopfordcity.com/store/selfish/2138943373 overture / http check · all sites with this

Place

15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)

This site: 5/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this

30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent road

This site: 57,955 on Cicero Ave fhwa-hpms · all sites with this

County lost 10%+ of retail establishments since 2012

This site: -11% census-cbp · all sites with this

County permitting 2,000+ apartment units a year

This site: 4,853 units, Cook County census-bps · all sites with this

County typical rent $2,000+

This site: $2,228/mo zillow · all sites with this

Grocery within 800 m

This site: 1 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this

High heat wave risk

This site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this

High inland flooding risk

This site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this

High social vulnerability tract (SVI ≥ 0.75)

This site: 0.90 cdc-svi · all sites with this

High tornado risk

This site: Very High fema-nri · all sites with this

Shrinking county

This site: -0.7% census-acs · all sites with this

Walkable block group (EPA ≥ 12)

This site: …index 15 epa-walkability · all sites with this

Scale

Building footprint 50,000+ m²

This site: 75,188 m² overture · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: …closed extraction · all sites with this

New use

Logistics and industrial

This site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	Closedextracted, unreviewed
Strategy	Redevelopedextracted, unreviewed
New uses	industrialextracted, unreviewed
What is there now	closedextracted, unreviewed

Planning

Zoning change	submittedextracted, unreviewed

Deals and debt

Date	Event	Price	Parties	Source
1961	Sold	—	Harry F Chaddick ← government	Wikipedia

Securitised debt and public filers

Filings (2001 to date) that name “Ford City Mall” and “Chicago” (8 hits, first 8 sampled, 4 other filers such as tenants left out). No commercial-mortgage trust names this mall in the sample, which does not rule out a securitised loan. Text matches, not a title search. Open the search · all trusts.

Kind	Filer	Filings	Dates	Forms
Public owner (weak)	CBL & ASSOCIATES PROPERTIES INC (CBL)	1	2008-05-01 to 2008-05-01	8-K 1

Site context

Transit within 800 m	no rail station; 6 bus stops within 400 mOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zone	X · AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARDFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m	12: COMED MANHOLE; CORDIN MOTOR FREIGHT INC; EXPRESSLY PORTRAITS; FIRESTONE 3428; FORD CITY BOWLING CTREPA FRS
Census tract 17031650500	4,048 people, 3,230 per sq mi; median household income $64,432; median gross rent $1,057; 14% renters; 4.6% vacant units; 10.1% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Walkability (EPA, block group)	index 15 of 20; 77 intersections per sq mi; nearest transit stop 595 m; land-use mix 0.87; 320,943 jobs within 45 min by car, 91,163 by transit; 28% of households without a carEPA Smart Location
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)	5 of 6 daily needs: 1 grocers, 1 schools, 5 parks or playgrounds, 1 health, 0 civic, 10 food and drink; 0 cycleway segments, 115 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity Zone	noHUD
Housing permits, Cook County (IL), 2024	4,853 units in 5+ unit buildings, 512 in 2–4, 1,142 single-family; 2023: 3,332 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)	overall percentile 0.90; socioeconomic 0.74; housing and transport 0.92; 19% below 150% of poverty; 16% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby	2 within 10 km, 24 within 25 km: Evergreen Plaza (6.1 km); Central Manufacturing District (9.7 km)computed
Overture Maps	place Ford City Mall (shopping_mall, confidence 0.93, from BrightQuery, Overture, Overture-signals); building footprint 75,188 m², 8.0 mOverture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and social	www.shopfordcity.com (alive); archived 2000–2026 (Wayback)Overture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views	159,850 since 2015; 24,742 in the last 12 months (+53% vs the prior 12); peak 2026-06 with 6,845Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023	population -3% (4,156 → 4,048); median income +36% ($47,321 → $64,432); renters 25% → 14%; median home value +28% ($165,500 → $212,100)Census ACS 5-year
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)	relatively moderate overall (score 82.3); expected annual loss $2.2M; high: tornado, inland flooding, heat wave, cold wave; community resilience relatively highFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km	noneHUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	13,577 establishments (-11%); 214,575 jobs (-4%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $340,258 (+6% 1 yr, +23% 5 yr); typical rent $2,228/mo (+5% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
House price index, tract, 2025	457 (2000 = 100); +11.5% 1 yr, +44% 5 yr, +89% 10 yrFHFA
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	57,955 vehicles a day on Cicero Ave (principal arterial, 7 lanes); 2,650 trucks; 11 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Ford City Mall opened in 1965 as the largest shopping mall in Chicago outside downtown, featuring over 135 stores and three anchors. Over the years it saw outparcel additions, a 2009 capital redevelopment program, and a 2016 renovation. In 2025 a $150 million warehouse redevelopment plan was proposed, and the mall closed permanently in 2026.

Why. The record does not specify the causes of the mall's decline or closure, such as anchor losses, competition, debt, or demolition.

Where it stands. The mall is currently closed and, according to the narrative, is managed by Namdar Realty Group.

For a planner

Precedent of phased redevelopment attempts (2009 capital program, 2016 renovation, 2025 warehouse plan).
Policy tool: zoning change submitted for warehouse conversion.
Open question: timeline and feasibility of approved warehouse redevelopment.
Open question: future governance and ownership after Namdar's management role.

For a developer

Site size: not provided in record.
Control: managed by Namdar Realty Group; ownership details absent.
Entitlement stage: zoning change submitted for warehouse use, status pending.
Constraints and market signals: flood risk, transit access, environmental conditions, and tract data not described in record.

What we do not know yet

Year closed (2026) is extraction and not reviewed.
Current owner and exact control entity are not specified.
Site size and parcel configuration are absent.
Anchor tenant occupancy and lease details are missing.
Environmental constraints (flood risk, contamination) are not described.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Adrian Mall, Adrian, MI · Malls · opened 1970; closed 2023; same strategy: redevelop
Boulevard Mall, Erie County, NY · Malls · opened 1962; closed 2026; same strategy: redevelop
Concord Mall, Elkhart, IN · Malls · opened 1972; closed 2023; same strategy: redevelop
Crossroads Mall, Waterloo, IA · Malls · opened 1969; closed 2025; same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

Pages with photos

Closed corridor in Ford City Mall - Chicago, IL - June 2026 commons.wikimedia.org
Ford City Mall- (Chicago, IL) triptothemall.blogspot.com
Ford City Mall - Sharlen Electric Company sharlen.com
Ford City Mall flickr.com
Petition · Save Ford City Mall from demolition! (Chi… change.org
MallsCenters - US Shopping Malls & Stores mallscenters.com
Ford City Mall - Ford City - 33 tips foursquare.com

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

closed or demolished site (sourced)

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened	1965Wikidata
Closed	2026extracted, unreviewed
Original developer	Harry F Chaddickextracted, unreviewed
Anchors	JCPenney, Carson Pirie Scott, General Cinema, Montgomery Ward, Wieboldt's, Turn Style
County	Cook County
Census division	3 · East North Central
Notes	Wikipedia categories: Defunct shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Ford City Mall is a defunct mall located on the Southwest Side of Chicago in the West Lawn neighborhood at 76th Street and Cicero Avenue. Opened in 1965, Ford City was the largest shopping mall in Chicago outside of downtown. At its peak, the mall had over 135 stores and 3 anchors. There are several outparcels including a 14-screen AMC Theatres, built off the southeast corner in 1990. Ford City Mall is managed by Namdar Realty Group.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

1961 Government sold the site to Harry F Chaddick for shopping center development
1965 Opened (Wikidata)
1965 Ford City Mall opened
2009 Began multimillion-dollar long term capital redevelopment program
2016 Renovation began
2025 $150 million plan proposed to redevelop site into warehouse complex; rezoning permit submitted
2026 Mall permanently closed

Sources

Wikipedia: Ford City Mall · supports: after notes, original developer, status, strategy, year closed, zoning change
12 quoted sentences
The mall permanently closed one day ahead of the deadline on June 21, 2026.
In 1961, the government sold it to Harry F Chaddick, who along with other investors planned to develop a shopping center.
The mall permanently closed one day ahead of the deadline on June 21, 2026.
The mall permanently closed one day ahead of the deadline on June 21, 2026.

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Ford City Mall, Chicago, IL." Record m-60e1b62d17, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/chicago-ford-city-mall/ (accessed 2026-10-20).