A building owner in the so-called Fee Fee/Schuetz Planning District doesn't want his property to be part of an area Maryland Heights is considering for a "blighted" designation.

While the Trades office/warehouse building area is in a commercial/industrial area with high vacancy rates and other problems, the well-kept Trades building on Dorsett Road could suffer loss of business from tenants who could be scared of the term "blighting," said Gene Holtzman, with Dorsett LLC/Hutkin Development Co., which owns the Trades.

The Maryland Heights' City Council could vote as early as March 1 on whether to consider the district, which is within the Westport area, a blighted area under state law to help encourage redevelopment there.

After a public hearing Feb. 16, the council put off a vote on the blighting designation to allow further legal and planning consideration of the proposal.

Mayor Mike Moeller said the question before the council is if the area qualifies as a blighted area under state law. The area consists of about 15 properties in a 50-acre area along Fee Fee, Schuetz and Dorsett roads.

"It includes, among other things, a couple of concrete plants no longer in business," Moeller said.

A report by the city's planning firm, PGAV Planners, has said the Fee Fee/Schuetz Planning District has been identified by the city as prime for redevelopment due to high vacancy rates and other problems. Last summer, the city's Planning Commission identified the area as a candidate for redevelopment.

The PGAV report says the area is plagued by economic underuse and vacancies largely due to the age, obsolescence and outmoded design of buildings. The city is considering the tract as a blighted area as part of a program to invite redevelopment projects so the city can see if they're eligible for property tax abatement as incentives, the report states.

"But each project would be considered separately by the city, and there aren't any projects before us now," City Administrator Mark Levin said.

The idea is to create opportunities for private sector investment, provide new revenues for the city and create new jobs, according to the report.

Levin said the city has talked to about a third of property owners in the area "and has had a wide range of responses."

"But eminent domain won't be part of the procedure," he said.

However, Holtzman said Dorsett LLC has owned the Trades at 11832-76 Dorsett Road for 40 years. The 44,000-square-foot Trades building with many tenants is well maintained and has only one vacancy, he said.

That's why the Trades shouldn't meet the definition of blighted, he said.

Building owners just invested in a $250,000-plus, top-quality roof, installed new drains and regraded the parking lot, among other things, Holtzman said.

"Being part of a blighted area would be guilt by association in the perception of our tenants, and we have concerns on the consequences of a blighting stigma," Holtzman said.

He said the last few years have been challenging economic times for commercial real estate operations nationwide.

"We're attempting to keep functional, viable and thriving and have put in the effort and energy to maintain our existing tenants, which are small independent firms, and to do new leasing in spite of the increasing level of vacancies in our area," Holtzman said. "Our concern is that the cloud of blight could tip the balance the wrong way and be a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Tenants of the Trades could fear eminent domain even though the city is pledging not to use it, he said. His company fears real estate brokers may contact tenants to try to move them to other properties. Already, he's seen declines in rents in renewals and new leases, averaging 20 percent.

He asked that the city remove the building from the redevelopment district.

Levin said economic underuse can be a factor in a blighting designation and "we're speaking of the area as a whole for the district without making a determination of blighting on each property."

Moeller said the city doesn't want to hurt existing businesses in the district.

"But the only way this area, which we feel has a lot of potential, will get quality redevelopment is with city assistance," he said.