Lawsuits Cloud McKee’s Ambitious Plans for North St. Louis
Date Posted: May 17, 2015
Posted In: News,
From STLtoday: Developer Paul McKee is the target in a high-stakes game of legal dodgeball.
Lawsuits are flying at him from several directions. Losses in suits facing McKee, his McEagle Properties and other businesses could affect the NorthSide Regeneration project — his years-long quest to remake 2 square miles of north St. Louis.
Those legal troubles appear to have strained McKee’s partnership with Mayor Francis Slay to win for NorthSide the headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and its 3,100 jobs.
The $1.6 billion NGA project is Slay’s top development priority.
“This project is the most important project to the city,” said Mary Ellen Ponder, the mayor’s chief of staff. “We need all hands on deck to get it done.”
McKee’s legal woes might send him below decks. A McKee creditor from the Kansas City area wants a court-appointed receiver to take control of hundreds of NorthSide parcels.