Remodel question on Buy & Hold

[Brian L.]

I own a 2-story mixed-use brick building that I'm currently remodeling. One of the upstairs units has walls with inconsistent and unsightly plaster/concrete covering the brick. My  contractor has advised that it would be more cost effective to simply furr out the walls and put up a nice smooth dry wall instead of trying to even out/improve the current situation. But by doing that, I'd be losing about 43sqft of area. What would you do? Will that effect the amount of rent I can charge?