It’s the same path Washington University took 40 years ago when it created a similar entity.

“Our institution made a very conscious decision back in the 1970s to stay in the city,” said Brian Phillips, executive director of the Washington University Medical Center Redevelopment Corp. “And that decision coincided with an effort to stabilize those areas.”

It gave the university the ability to guide development by offering tax abatement to investors who followed its development plan and to set zoning and use categories around the institution.

“You become kind of like a city administrator,” Phillips said.

SLU cleared a key early step in the process Wednesday, when a Board of Aldermen committee voted unanimously to advance a measure blighting the area. Later, the full board will have to approve the measure as well as a redevelopment plan that coincides with the blighted area. Heimburger said the university hopes to have that ready to present at the St. Louis Planning Commission’s Nov. 2 meeting.

Still unclear is how much tax abatement will be offered to developers in the area. State law allows a redevelopment corporation to grant up to 25 years of property tax abatement.