ST. LOUIS • Paul McKee's soaring vision for a new north St. Louis was yanked back to earth Friday, when a judge threw out the project's $390 million city financing package, skeptical about McKee's lack of details.

The ruling by St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker dealt a major setback to the $8.1 billion NorthSide plan, which would put 10,000 new homes and millions of square feet of office space across two square miles north of downtown. And if the ruling stands — city officials are considering an appeal — it could force a rethinking of the entire project.

In 51 often-colorful pages, Dierker wrote that he shared some of the doubts that have dogged NorthSide since McKee unveiled it more than a year ago. Particularly, he said, he doubted the city's decision last fall to blight 1,100 acres and authorize $390 million in tax increment financing for McKee without specific, identifiable projects in mind for the site.

Doing so, Dierker ruled, took state TIF law a big step too far.

If the city's approach is valid, Dierker wrote, St. Louis "might as well designate its entire corporate boundaries as a redevelopment area, and proceed to capture incremental tax revenue to dispense to favored redevelopers whenever the city feels like it. The statutes demand more."

Those words drew cheers from the three plaintiffs, their attorneys and supporters, who gathered on the steps of the Civil Courts Building on Friday afternoon to celebrate.

"This is clearly a victory for the citizens of St. Louis," said Eric Vickers, one of the lawyers in the case. "The court has sent a signal to this community that there will not be just an arbitrary use of public funds."

Vickers and others involved in the case stressed that they are not opposed to development in north St. Louis. Quite the opposite. But they want to see it come from the ground up, not in a top-down vision that threatens homes and businesses but delivers little to residents. And that is how NorthSide looked to Isaiah Hair.

A 15-year resident of Hogan Street in St. Louis Place, he was one of three plaintiffs in the case. On Friday, he said he just wants to see specifics from McKee, about new jobs and new businesses.

"But right now," he said. "It's just words. Empty words."

As word of the ruling spread through the neighborhood Friday, that kind of skepticism rang out. To Jim Bommel, owner of the Home Improvement Outlet on North Jefferson Avenue, the year of talk had left him unimpressed with McKee.

"All I see him doing is buying and not really doing," Bommel said. "I think that because of the economy, it's all going to peter out."

Down the street, at the St. Louis RV Park, owner George Hudson said he saw potential for McKee's plan at the foot of the new Mississippi River Bridge and on the western edge of downtown. But he doubted its viability in the fragile neighborhoods farther north.

"What about the rest of the ground up here?" he asked. "It's just going to sit there for years."

Still, others think NorthSide could be the best thing to happen in north St. Louis in a long time. Like Karen Simmons, who lives in St. Louis Place and has watched the project for more than a year. It's a chance to really better the neighborhood, she said.

"This is the best plan we've ever seen," Simmons said. "This needs to work out."

McKee, for his part, is not packing up.

The developer declined to comment Friday, saying it is still a legal matter. But his attorney, Paul Puricelli, said McKee still wants to move forward as quickly as possible. He plans to file motions urging Dierker to reconsider.

"I think Judge Dierker is a smart and deliberate judge," Puricelli said. "And when he gets another chance to get a look, I think he'll change his mind."

But, for now, this ruling could make McKee's going much tougher.

NorthSide is already two months behind its initial schedule. Tax credits for the first project — a rehab of the Clemens House Mansion — are stalled in Jefferson City. And, at least publicly, McKee has struggled to attract financing. He has argued that the TIF would ease lenders' concerns. Now that's on hold, too.

NorthSide may even have to repay $19.6 million in tax credits it received in December. Those credits are dependent on a redevelopment agreement between the project and the city, and Dierker's decision voided that agreement. John Fougere, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Economic Development, said his agency is still analyzing what impact the ruling might have.

But there is still support at City Hall.

City Counselor Patty Hageman said St. Louis officials — the actual defendants in the case — are considering an appeal of Dierker's ruling. Regardless, they hope NorthSide can succeed.

"We do not believe the ruling is an end to a visionary attempt to revitalize the north side," she said in a statement.

If Dierker's ruling stands, the approach could change. One option city officials have discussed is smaller, more focused TIFs, rather than the single huge one. That may resolve the judge's objections but would require new legislation from the Board of Aldermen, and it couldn't happen before at least mid-September.

The two aldermen who have taken the lead on the project couldn't be reached for comment Friday, but board President Lewis Reed said he hoped a solution could be found.

"I think it's an important project," he said. "We really need to figure out how to put it back together and keep things moving forward."

And even Dierker, in his ruling, said he did "not relish the role of playing naysayer" to NorthSide but felt the law requires it. The development, the judge wrote, could yet go forward if its developer is up to the task.

"If St. Louis has found a worthy successor to Daniel Burnham or (World's Fair-era Mayor) Rolla Wells in Paul McKee, this court's judgment will be but a temporary obstacle in his path."

Tim Bryant and David Hunn of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.