18th Ward Alderman Derrick Curtis shares what could be next for permanently closed Ford City Mall

Doors were officially locked and closed at Ford City Mall on the city's South Side on Monday afternoon following a court order.

While that was happening, the alderman had a meeting with the possible future developers for the property.

Outside the mall, the doors are padlocked, weeds have grown about four feet tall, and there are tire marks from drivers performing donuts. All of that on top of the multiple shootings outside the mall, with one happening just last week, another turned deadly a year ago.

"My primary goal is to get this out of the current landlord's hands that it is in now," said Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th).

He says Namdar Realty, a New York company, has been neglecting the property. 

CBS News Chicago reached out to the company for comment but has yet to hear back.

"The current landlord has not been taking care of the property since they purchased it in 2019," Curtis said.

City inspectors found the fire suppression system inside the mall doesn't work properly. Curtis adds there is also water damage throughout.

"The ground could even cave in because there is hundreds of gallons of water that is running from the mall underground," he said.

So far, there is one developer with an offer on the table to make it four warehouses, a green space, freshly paved streets, a new water system, and to lease it to small manufacturers.

Curtis says it will cost around $200 million and create over 1,500 jobs.

"If we don't take this investment of nearly $200 million, the mall might sit there for another 10 years," he said.

As for which companies would occupy those potential warehouses, Curtis says that's not decided and won't be for some time. However, there's already a group petitioning against the idea of the mall becoming an industrial park.

A Change.org petition already has over 1,100 signatures. They say the warehouses would increase traffic, pollution, and noise.

Others like Axel Mejia say they're fine with the idea.

"Just don't bring any AI data centers, yeah, don't bring that, but all the warehouses, I think that's fine," he says.

"Since the mall was built in 1942, it's always been industrial," Curtis said.

As for Curtis, he says development needs to happen sooner rather than later, or else property values will suffer.

He still plans on hosting community feedback meetings and says he's "going to stand behind them 100%."