With those fantastical Navy Pier plans rolling through the final round, it's nice that Kimiteru Tsuruta at Medill Reports paused to ask the opinion of the pier's retail tenants. There's about 80 of them, ranging from a soap shop to an Irish shop to bars and restaurants. Despite the uncertain fate before them, many support the thrust of a redesign. Which design gets picked and its timetable for implementation have a lot to do with how much business is lost. The pier administration will not compensate for construction-related losses. Furthermore, tenants recently incurred a 10% rent hike. While tenants have no vote on the redesign, they say they've been kept informed throughout the process. What kind of message is being sent? Is admin trying to usher in some new blood? [Medill Reports]
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