“As a proposed plan to transform Ford City Mall into an industrial campus awaits zoning approval, Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th) warned neighbors that if developers decide not to pursue the project, the community could be in ‘big trouble.’

“Dozens of neighbors crowded into Daley College Wednesday to discuss the fate of the struggling Southwest Side shopping mall in a three-hour community meeting.

“Bridge Industrial, a Chicago-based real estate company that redevelops environmentally impacted and underutilized buildings in urban areas, presented its plans at the meeting to buy the mall, demolish the site and build a multi-building industrial campus at 7400-7600 S. Kostner Ave. and 7601 S. Cicero Ave.

“The buildings are ‘built to be flexible” and “service the needs of wide groups of tenants for a long time,” said Curt Pascoe, Bridge Industrial’s vice president of development. Businesses that have set up shop in other warehouses developed by Bridge Industrial manufacture food, assemble electronics and machinery or host large refrigeration systems for pharmaceuticals.

“Despite its years-long decline, Curtis hasn’t contacted any other companies to repurpose Ford City Mall because it’s such a large development, he said. Bridge Industrial is the only company that has approached him to purchase and redevelop it, Curtis said.

“If the community doesn’t support Bridge Industrial’s proposed development, ‘I don’t know the next time someone will want to come in and invest anything near $200 million on this project,’ Curtis said.

“During World War II, the site was a factory for Boeing airplane engines, Pascoe said. After the war ended, it was an automobile factory. Ford City Mall opened on the property in 1965.

“Ward Miller, executive director at Preservation Chicago, recommended that developers repurpose the building rather than demolish it because of its storied history in the community, drawing a round of applause from neighbors at the meeting.

“‘The greenest buildings are the ones we have,’ Miller said. ‘We have the opportunity to unpeel all the remodelings that went on in this complex over time and really create something special, where people would be attracted.

“‘I think there could be a lot of businesses, a lot of creative aspects to it. The harder the problem, the better the solution.’ (Reed, Block Club Chicago, 9/11/25)

Read the full story at Block Club Chicago

• SW Side In ‘Trouble’ If Warehouse Park Doesn’t Replace Ford City Mall, Ald. Says As Some Neighbors Oppose Plan; Bridge Industrial is the only company that has approached Ald. Derrick Curtis with plans to redevelop the mall, he said: “I don’t know the next time someone will want to … invest anything near $200 million on this project.”, Atavia Reed, Block Club Chicago, 9/11/25
• Ford City Mall, losing its hold on shoppers, could see an industrial evolution; A $150 million proposal from Chicago-based Bridge Industrial calls for switching the site to warehouses or light manufacturing, a throwback to its earlier incarnation, David Roeder, Chicago Sun-Times, 7/16/25
• Ford City Center, Chicago, Illinois, Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal
• Industrial developer looks to buy, demolish major mall on Chicago’s Southwest Side; Bridge Industrial proposes replacing Ford City Mall with four warehouses, Ryan Ori, CoStar, 7/14/25