The city of St. Paul took two key steps on Wednesday toward the creation of the Frogtown Entrepreneur Center.

It would be a redevelopment of the commercial-office buildings in the northwest corner of Dale Street and University Avenue into modern, affordable housing, retail and office space.

The Neighborhood Development Center has planned to redevelop the properties at 625 and 627 University Ave., the longstanding home of Big Daddy’s Barbeque, and remodel the Midtown Business Center office building at 501 Dale St. North.

Meeting as the St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the seven-member city council voted Wednesday to restructure two longstanding loans issued to NDC in 1997 and 1999. After combining $95,000 in unpaid principal into one loan, the new loan will be issued for a 20-year term, interest-free, with repayment deferred for seven years.

The city will also sell a plot of vacant HRA-owned land at 621 University Ave., also in the northwest corner of University Avenue and Dale Street, to the developer for fair market value — $125,000 — structured as a “seller’s note,” to be repaid over 20 years at 1 percent interest.