Next week, the Missouri Supreme Court will hear a legal challenge to Paul McKee's massive plan to remake north St. Louis.
But Mayor Francis Slay is confident development will happen even if the high court rejects the incentives.
A St. Louis judge ruled in 2010 that the legislation approving nearly 400 million dollars in tax incentives for the Northside Regeneration Initiative did not contain enough specific projects.
An appeals court in June agreed, but punted to the Supreme Court because of the interest in the topic.
Mayor Slay acknowledges that a ruling against the incentives may limit what McKee can do in the project's 1,800 acre footprint.
"But it doesn't necessarily stop him completely from doing anything to improve a neighborhood that has been neglected and experienced a lot of disinvestment over the years," Slay said.
McKee has said repeatedly that the incentives are required to make the project a success.
There's been little visible progress since the development plan passed in 2009.