Chicago’s City Council has given final approval to a redevelopment plan for the former Ford City Mall property despite community opposition.
A warehouse and distribution facility was approved Sept. 23 for the 62-acre site at 7601 S. Cicero Ave. in Chicago across the street from Burbank.
Kurve Industrial said it plans to invest $200 million and create 90 construction jobs and 185 permanent jobs.
Plans also include a new Chicago Transit Authority bus terminal at the northeast corner of the campus, reconstruction of 76th Street and public green space along Cicero Avenue that will be called Ford City Heritage Plaza.
The project faced opposition from local resident coalitions and groups like the West Lawn Conservation Club and Southside Flourish Movement, who advocated for alternative community uses such as housing, retail, or entertainment districts instead of industrial zoning.
Supporters, including Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th), cited the need for tax revenue and mitigation of vacant property safety risks. The mall is in his ward.
Vehicular traffic would enter the parking lot from the south via the reconstructed 76th Street. Truck traffic would enter via South Kostner Avenue.
The warehouse campus will include four industrial and distribution buildings totaling about 1.1 million square feet. There will be 904 parking spaces, 216 loading docks and 160 truck spaces.
Demolition and construction are expected to begin in early 2027. Completion is expected by late 2028.
Outlying tenants—including the AMC Ford City 14, Planet Fitness, and IHOP— will remain open.
The mall closed earlier this year due to public health and safety concerns after years of neglect by owner New York-based Namdar Realty Group.
Alderman Curtis said the property has become a danger to the community since it closed and wants the city to force Namdar to improve security at the shuttered mall.
He said new video shows people breaking into the mall and running through the vacant building.
The site was a defense plan during World War II and opened as Ford City Mall in 1965.