As part of Mayor Dean's fellowship with them, planners from the Urban Land Institute on Thursday delivered their first thoughts on how Metro officials can redevelop parts of the underutilized area between Fourth and Eighth avenues south of downtown. Unless our economic situation changes drastically, the city's going to have to pony up some.

Weak capital markets will require Metro to offer a wider variety of incentives, experts said. Recommendations for the public sector include: assembling sites for development, assisting developers with financing structures and offering incentives, loans and grants to developers willing to build in the urban core.