Six Chicago Malls Are at Risk, and Somebody Has to Build What Comes Next
Green Street Advisors flagged six Chicago-area malls as at risk in April. Since then, Ford City Mall has gone dark, and the plan to replace it is a warehouse campus
By the time Ford City Mall closed on June 22, a malfunctioning fire suppression system had been flooding the building. There were also concerns about exposed wiring and possible sinkholes. About two dozen retailers were still open, including JCPenney, the last anchor. A court-approved agreement ended it, and a Southwest Side landmark went dark.
Ford City was not one of the six Chicago-area malls Green Street Advisors put on its at-risk list two months earlier. That is part of the story. The warning signs are everywhere, and the question that matters most to the people who build things is what happens after a mall stops working.
The List
Green Street assigns letter grades to malls based on factors like tenancy, foot traffic, and estimated sales. According to Crain's Chicago Business, which reported the grades on April 29, a B-minus or lower puts a mall at risk of a "death loop," where declining occupancy and sales lead to deeper financial distress. As summarized by Patch, the six Chicago-area malls at or below that line are Golf Mall Shopping Center in Niles (C), Lincolnwood Town Center (B-), Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills (C+), North Riverside Park Mall (B-), Louis Joliet Mall in Joliet (C+), and River Oaks Center in Calumet City (D).
Green Street's ratings are not comprehensive. They leave out some Chicago-area malls and have no standard way to account for a mall that is already being revitalized. A grade is a warning, not a verdict.
What Replaces a Dead Mall? Ford City Says Warehouse
The plan for Ford City is the most dramatic answer so far. Kurv Industrial, formerly Bridge Industrial, wants to demolish the mall and build four industrial buildings on the 62-acre site at 7601 South Cicero. Depending on the filing, the campus runs from about 913,000 to 1.1 million square feet, with 216 loading docks and 160 truck parking spaces. The cost estimate started at $150 million. Updated plans put it at $200 million after the developer added a public plaza, a CTA bus terminal, and reconstruction of 76th Street.
The Chicago Plan Commission approved the rezoning in August from a shopping district to an industrial planned development, after protests outside City Hall. Neighbors worry about truck traffic, noise, and air pollution, concerns that follow most warehouse proposals. The developer's traffic study found the industrial campus would generate significantly less total traffic than the mall did. The project then moves to the full City Council. The developer's filing targeted a late 2026 start and a late 2028 finish, though more recent reporting points to demolition beginning early next year.
West Dundee Says Housing and Retail, Eventually
In the western suburbs, Spring Hill Mall opened in 1980 and closed in 2024. West Dundee spent more than $13 million to buy most of it, demolish it, and prepare the site. That 70-acre footprint is now empty except for a Cinemark theater. In June, the village unveiled two concepts. One shows 778 housing units in buildings up to five stories with 320,000 square feet of retail. The other shows 1,326 units and 400,000 square feet of retail. Both turn the stormwater pond into a park.
The village president was clear that these are starting points to attract developers, not final plans. He said redevelopment could take as long as 10 years.
Vernon Hills and Lincolnwood Say Keep the Mall, Change the Mall
Not every flagged property is being torn down. Hawthorn Mall, graded C+, is getting a major interior refresh that the Daily Herald put at about $5 million, with completion expected this fall and a new entrance and other elements slated to start in 2027. It follows Hawthorn Row, which opened in 2024 with tenants including Anthropologie and Yard House. Centennial describes the goal as a modern mixed-use destination.
Lincolnwood Town Center, graded B-, sold in December to a group tied to Prairie Ridge Development and Xroads Real Estate Advisors. The 31-acre property opened in 1990. The village and the new owner have signed a non-binding pre-development agreement, with reports describing a large retail store of about 150,000 to 175,000 square feet and an auto dealership as part of the plan.
The Part Nobody Photographs
Every one of these stories has a glossy rendering. None of them show the middle: tearing down an enclosed mall, rebuilding streets and utilities, moving stormwater, and working around tenants that are still open next door. West Dundee spent more than $13 million buying, demolishing, and preparing its site before a single new building went up. Ford City's plan also includes a rebuilt public street and a new bus terminal alongside the warehouses.
That sequencing is where retail and commercial redevelopment projects get won or lost. Demolition, infrastructure, phasing around open tenants, and the new construction all have to line up, and each depends on approvals that no contractor controls.
What Comes Next
The six malls on the list will not all follow the same path. Some will be refreshed in place, some will be sold, and some may end up like Ford City and Spring Hill, cleared and rebuilt as something else entirely. What they have in common is that none of it happens on its own. Somebody has to build what comes next.
Redeveloping or Repositioning a Retail Property?
Whether a retail property is being refreshed in place, partly demolished, or cleared for something new, the schedule depends on the order of the work: demolition, infrastructure, phasing around open tenants, then the build.
If you own or are evaluating a retail site and want a second set of eyes on the buildout and phasing, we would be glad to walk it with you.
If you are working on a retail redevelopment in Chicago or the suburbs, walk it with us. Request a walk