This 2009 article reports that the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri had signed-off on a private 1500-acre revitalization effort by developer Paul McKee. The 2015 article below it reports that the project is in serious trouble.
REVITALIZATION readers familiar with the situation are invited use the Comments section below to share their insights on the dynamics of the intervening six years.
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2009: St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay says the large scale of developer Paul McKee’s plans for a north side redevelopment should be a key to the project’s success.
Slay signed two bills that set a redevelopment area and redevelopment plan for the 15-year project.
McKee plans to work with other developers to turn crumbling sections of north St. Louis within a 1,500-acre area into revitalized neighborhoods anchored by business centers.
2015: The NorthSide Regeneration project, aimed at redeveloping 1500 acres of North St. Louis, may have to be finished a developer other than its creator, Paul McKee, according to a consultant to Mayor Francis Slay, because of serious financial questions raised about McKee over the past few days.
It was revealed this week that McKee is two years behind on city property taxes for many of the land and buildings in the footprint of the project. The total owed the city, including penalties and interest is roughly $750 million. By law, the city has to wait one more year before it can take McKee to court.
It was also revealed this week that a Kansas finance company is suing McKee, claiming he is in default on $17.6 million in loans.