A month after the Council approved Ford City's industrial future, the empty mall's owner faces a court deadline and a possible receiver

The closed Ford City Mall at 7601 S. Cicero Ave. is still drawing break-ins and street racing, and its owner has missed repeated court deadlines to secure it, Block Club Chicago reported. Cook County Judge Diann Marsalek ordered owner Namdar Realty Group to present a formal security plan by Oct. 28 after it came to an Oct. 19 hearing without one.

Why it matters: neighbors in West Lawn and Ashburn are living next to a vacant 67-acre property that a court ordered closed in June. The City Council has already approved what comes next. The question now is who controls the site until then.

This is a follow-up to our Oct. 20 article on the Council's rezoning. Here is what changed.

What happened in court

The City's case over building conditions led to the court-ordered closure in June, Block Club reported. Since then, the owner was ordered to secure loading docks, install cameras and register them with police and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Block Club reported that Namdar's team later said it would install eight cameras instead of the 16 ordered.

The City is asking the court to appoint a receiver to take control of the property, a petition first filed in February, and has also accused Namdar of violating court orders, which could bring heavy fines, according to Block Club. An assistant corporation counsel for the City called the owner's conduct "amateur hour." Namdar's lawyers have seven days to respond. Block Club also reported that a neighboring company told the court Namdar had not paid any fines.

A property manager told the judge the mall is under contract to be sold. The judge said the court has to deal with the property as it is now.

What our records add

The Council has already voted on the redevelopment. On Sept. 23, the Council passed the rezoning for an industrial campus, 50 to 0, in SO2025-0018864. The developer, Midwest RE Acquisitions LLC, plans four industrial buildings of about 1.1 million square feet and told the zoning committee it intends to buy the property by the end of this year.

Safety was the local alderperson's main argument. At the Sept. 22 zoning committee hearing, Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th) said the site had seen unlawful activity and a loss of life, and that putting the property back in use was the way to address it (watch). Two members, Ald. Byron Sigcho-López (25th) and Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th), asked to be recorded as no votes in committee, then voted yes in the Council's grouped roll call. Our earlier article has the full debate over truck traffic and green space.

The ward. The mall is in the 18th Ward. Curtis has filed to run again, and as of Oct. 21 our 18th Ward race page listed two candidates.

What's next

• Oct. 27: the Department of Buildings, which brings many of the City's building-condition cases, appears before the Budget Committee for its 2027 budget hearing.
• Oct. 28: the security plan is due in Judge Marsalek's courtroom, and the receivership request moves forward.
• By the end of 2026: the developer's planned purchase. Demolition requires a permit and an additional community meeting, the developer's team told the zoning committee in September.

Sources: SO2025-0018864: Ford City rezoning (roll call); Chicago Politics: Ford City Mall will become an industrial campus (Oct. 20); Chicago Politics: 18th Ward race, 2027.