Officials inside the Mayor's office tell GlobeSt.com that the most likely plan would prompt owners to accept a four-to-one commercial-to-retail ratio. Under it, the owner or builder of a typical 400,000-sf building would dedicate at least 100,000 sf for retail purposes.

Although details of the plan still need to be fleshed-out, "it will involve restricting first-floor use of these buildings and reserving them for retail space," says Jeff Walden, a spokesman for the Mayor's Business Team.

The proposal marks the Mayor's biggest attempt yet to strike a balance between Downtown's growing number of telecommunications companies and the gaping need for retail establishments. While office-building owners have welcomed the telecom firms, others note that most telecommunications tenants fill their space with huge machines and miles of cable, but relatively few employees who will shop at Downtown stores, eat at local restaurants or have drinks after work.