Chicago & Midwest + Downtown + Retail | June 4, 2020

Chicago Businesses Begin Reopening from Pandemic Shutdown

Chicago officials said Wednesday they were cautiously optimistic as the city entered the third phase of reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic amid civil unrest.

Following widespread looting and vandalism in many neighborhoods, Wednesday’s protests against systemic racism were the quietest since the demonstrations began, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Still, not all businesses that were permitted to resume normal operations during the “cautiously reopen” phase of Chicago’s plan did so on Wednesday. “In light of what’s happened over the last couple days, some are choosing to open now and really kind of getting some cadence with all the safety and public health measures they need to take,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot told the Tribune. “Others are saying nope, I’m going to wait a few days and see how the dust clears.”

In her address to the city Tuesday night, Lightfoot announced a new fund to help businesses repair damage to their properties.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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