To: The Cook County State’s Attorney, the Illinois Attorney General, the City of Chicago, the Chicago Department of Buildings, and All Relevant Law Enforcement and Regulatory Authorities

We demand a full investigation into Igal Namdar and the handling of Ford City Mall. We demand accountability for the conditions that led to the mall’s closure, justice for the Southwest Side community, and meaningful legal consequences for anyone found responsible for negligence, safety violations, or other unlawful conduct.

No billionaire should be allowed to neglect a community’s property, put public safety at risk, devastate local businesses, and walk away while ordinary people are left to deal with the consequences.

A Corporate Landlord Must Not Be Above the Law

Igal Namdar, associated with Namdar Realty Group, has become a symbol of everything wrong with absentee corporate ownership when profit takes priority over people, public safety, and the future of local communities.

To the residents and business owners affected by the collapse of Ford City Mall as a functioning community landmark, this is not simply a real estate transaction. It is a devastating example of what happens when those with enormous financial resources can abandon their responsibilities while working families bear the consequences.

If the reported conditions at Ford City Mall resulted from prolonged neglect, those responsible must be investigated and held legally accountable. Wealth must never become a shield against justice.

Ford City Mall: A Community Abandoned

Ford City Mall was more than a shopping center. For generations, it served Chicago’s Southwest Side as a place to work, shop, gather, and create memories. Local employees depended on it. Small businesses invested in it. Families made it part of their lives.

Now, the community is left facing the consequences of a deteriorating property and the loss of a vital commercial landmark.

Reports surrounding the mall’s condition have described serious infrastructure and safety problems, including extensive water leaks, a malfunctioning fire sprinkler system, and concerns about dangerous structural conditions.

These are not minor cosmetic issues. Water damage, inadequate fire protection, and potential structural instability can threaten workers, visitors, neighboring properties, and first responders.

How could a property of such importance be allowed to reach this point? Who knew about the problems, when did they know, and why were they not adequately addressed?

The public deserves answers.

Accountability for the Court Proceedings

Reports concerning the Ford City Mall litigation have described proceedings in Cook County Circuit Court involving Judge Leonard Murray and the eventual order requiring the mall’s closure.

Namdar’s reported absence from court raises legitimate questions about corporate accountability and whether the people making decisions about this property are willing to face the communities affected by those decisions.

A person’s absence from a court hearing does not, by itself, prove criminal wrongdoing. But neither should wealth, corporate structures, or teams of attorneys prevent authorities from thoroughly investigating potential violations and enforcing the law.

We demand transparency regarding the court proceedings, compliance with all court orders, and appropriate consequences for any party that has violated its legal obligations.

Justice must not depend on whether someone is wealthy enough to send lawyers in their place.

What Happened to the Workers and Businesses?

One of the most troubling aspects of this situation is the reported impact on JCPenney, its employees, and the surrounding community.

According to the information underlying this petition, JCPenney had committed to a new five-year lease before announcing its permanent closure amid unresolved safety concerns attributed to the condition of the property.

If a business was prepared to remain in the neighborhood but could not safely operate because essential building problems went unaddressed, the public deserves a full explanation.

Workers deserve to know what happens to their jobs. Small businesses deserve to know whether their investments and contractual rights will be respected. Residents deserve to know why a major community landmark was allowed to deteriorate to the point that continued operation became untenable.

These are real consequences for real people—not merely numbers on a corporate balance sheet.

The Alleged Pattern of Neglect Must Be Investigated

Critics of large absentee mall owners have raised concerns about investment practices in which aging shopping centers continue generating rental income while essential maintenance and redevelopment are neglected.

The allegations surrounding Ford City Mall demand scrutiny of whether that pattern occurred here.

If an owner collects rent while failing to address known, serious safety hazards, the public has every right to demand answers. If evidence establishes violations of building codes, fire safety requirements, court orders, or other laws, the responsible parties must face the consequences.

We also call for an examination of the property's finances, maintenance records, inspection reports, communications concerning known hazards, and any transactions involving the property or its redevelopment.

The goal is not to punish someone simply for owning an unsuccessful property. The goal is to establish the facts, determine whether the law was broken, protect the public, and ensure that those responsible cannot evade accountability.

Our Demands

We, the undersigned, call upon the appropriate authorities to take the following actions:

1. Launch a comprehensive investigation. Examine the ownership and management of Ford City Mall, the history of its deterioration, maintenance decisions, and the handling of reported safety hazards.

2. Enforce all applicable laws and court orders. Investigate potential building-code violations, fire-safety violations, unlawful conduct, and any noncompliance with judicial orders. Pursue all appropriate civil or criminal proceedings supported by the evidence.

3. Hold responsible individuals and corporate entities accountable. Do not allow corporate structures, financial resources, or complex ownership arrangements to prevent authorities from identifying and pursuing those legally responsible.

4. Pursue criminal prosecution where warranted. If investigators uncover evidence of criminal conduct, refer the matter to the appropriate prosecutors and pursue charges supported by the evidence. If a conviction results and imprisonment is legally warranted, seek an appropriate prison sentence. No one should be presumed guilty without due process, but no one should be exempt from prosecution because of wealth.

5. Demand transparency about the property's condition. Make available, to the extent permitted by law, relevant inspection findings, enforcement actions, court orders, and information about the steps taken to address dangerous conditions.

6. Protect workers, tenants, residents, and neighboring businesses. Ensure that affected people receive clear information about safety risks, their legal rights, and any available remedies.

7. Investigate the financial and business decisions surrounding the property. Examine relevant records and transactions to determine whether assets, contractual obligations, or responsibilities were improperly handled, and take action if evidence of unlawful conduct is found.

8. Establish stronger protections against corporate property neglect. Support meaningful enforcement, appropriate penalties for proven violations, and safeguards that prevent negligent ownership from leaving communities with dangerous, abandoned properties and enormous public costs.

Why This Matters Beyond Ford City Mall

This petition is about more than one mall or one billionaire.

It is about whether working-class communities have any meaningful protection when powerful property owners fail to maintain the buildings they control.

It is about whether businesses that employ local residents can be destroyed by infrastructure failures that should have been addressed.

It is about whether taxpayers and neighbors must shoulder the burden when private property deteriorates into a public safety concern.

And it is about whether the legal system will hold powerful corporate owners to the same standards of accountability expected of everyone else.

Calling someone a successful real estate investor means nothing if the communities affected by their business decisions are left with unsafe buildings, lost jobs, and a ruined piece of their local history.

A corporate landlord who neglects serious safety obligations must not be allowed to treat an entire neighborhood as disposable.

Sign This Petition: Demand Justice for Ford City

We call on the Cook County State’s Attorney, the Illinois Attorney General, Chicago officials, and all relevant enforcement agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding Ford City Mall and take decisive action wherever the evidence supports it.

We demand accountability, transparency, enforcement, and justice.

If Igal Namdar or any other responsible individual or entity violated the law, there must be consequences. If criminal conduct is proven, criminal penalties must be pursued. If civil liability is established, those responsible must be held to account.

We refuse to accept a system in which powerful property owners can profit while a community suffers the consequences of a deteriorating landmark.

Ford City Mall mattered. The Southwest Side matters. Its workers, families, and small businesses matter.

No more corporate impunity. No more looking the other way. No more allowing working-class communities to pay the price for alleged corporate neglect.

Sign this petition and demand a full investigation, legal accountability, and justice for the people of Chicago’s Southwest Side.