For months now, developer Paul McKee has been awaiting the day when three Appeals Court judges would weigh in on the plan for his massive NorthSide redevelopment, hoping that a favorable ruling would let him finally put out a sign saying “Open for Business.â€
That day came Tuesday. Yet, McKee’s “Open for Business†sign is still in storage. And his case is headed for the Missouri Supreme Court.
The three-judge panel made no formal decision on the city’s biggest-ever package of development incentives, which a lower court judge ruled in July 2010 was overbroad and unconstitutional. The judges — Robert G. Dowd Jr., Mary K. Hoff and Sherri B. Sullivan — said they agreed with that decision, by ºüÀêÊÓƵ Circuit Judge Robert Dierker, but passed on making a final call.
“Due to the general interest or importance of questions involved,†they wrote, “we transfer the case to the Supreme Court.â€
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That move — neither a yes nor a no — likely postpones any major work on McKee’s two-square-mile redevelopment project for at least another nine months. Aside from a few small pieces, NorthSide has already been stalled for nearly two years, during which time McKee has suffered several other financial setbacks, including a $32 million judgment against him on another project in Hazelwood.
In recent interviews, the developer had pinned high hopes on this ruling, saying it would let him kick NorthSide into high gear at last. Despite the loss, a lawyer for McKee said his client will continue to push forward on the project, which the developer has been working on since the early 2000s.
“Paul McKee remains committed to this project,†Paul Puricelli said.
Meanwhile attorneys for the plaintiffs — four residents concerned that the development agreement would “blight†their homes — said they were cheered by the ruling, even if it also means there’s another round yet to fight.
“This is not a final judgement,†said Bevis Shock. “But I’d rather go up the winner here.â€
While it’s unusual for the Appeals Court to hand up a case without ruling, the court did this 11 times in the past fiscal year, typically on issues of broad statewide interest. That procedure was used in the legislative redistricting case the Supreme Court decided Tuesday.
The Supreme Court will formally receive the NorthSide case in about two weeks. It could decline to take it — in which case the Appeals Court could make Tuesday's ruling official — or hold another round of briefs and hearings. If the Supreme Court does consider the case and take written briefs and oral arguments, the process could last nine months to a year, attorneys said.
The seven justices will focus on whether Dierker ruled correctly when he said that a TIF of this size — setting aside nearly $400 million in taxes to fund road and street work and blighting 1,500 acres of the near north side — requires more specific plans than the outlines laid out in the redevelopment agreement McKee negotiated with the city in 2009.
If the Supreme Court sides with Dierker, there may still be other ways forward for NorthSide.
McKee plans to keep marketing sites in the project area, even absent a TIF, especially around the foot of the new Mississippi River bridge north of downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ. And if the current TIF can’t pass muster with the court, both Puricelli and city officials say they’d be open to crafting a new one, likely smaller and more specific, to meet the judges’ concerns.
“I think this will slow things down,†said Jeff Rainford, Mayor Francis Slay’s chief of staff. “But I don’t think it’s anything close to stopping it.â€
Eric Vickers, another of the attorneys challenging McKee, sees it differently, predicting a victory in the Supreme Court that will stick the last nail in to NorthSide’s coffin.
“It’s legally dead,†Vickers said. “It has been economically dead for a couple of years.â€