A plan to build a new three-story, multiple-tenant medical office building at Pease International Tradeport received a key approval recently.

The city Planning Board voted to recommend site plan approval of the project to the Pease Development Authority’s Board of Directors, which makes the final decisions on all proposed projects at the former Pease Air Force Base.

The new facility proposed for 360 Corporate Drive, is being developed by ATDG LLC, according to documents filed with the city and the Pease Development Authority.

Jeff Kilburg of Apex Design Build is the project director for the proposed medical center.

He stated the developers are proposing “a new state-of-the-art … facility which features three floors of dedicated healthcare space for up to 10 health-care tenants, which includes an ambulatory surgery center, imaging center and plastic surgery center.”

“Access to this site will be administered via new entrances constructed at both Corporate Drive and International Drive, and features substantial enhancement to the surrounding landscape at the respective roadways and within the site,” Kilburg said. “This building features a modern aesthetic with neutral color palette which has been carefully designed to incorporate colors from surrounding developments within the Pease Development district.”

“This development brings enhanced public accessibility via new sidewalks along all public rights-of-way and an enlarged bus stop,” he added.

The site would also feature 125 vehicle parking spaces and two loading docks, according to plans filed with the city and PDA.

The Planning Board members recommended the Pease board “look at the intersections in and around the facility to manage the traffic impacts and safety.”

Michael Mates, the director of engineering for the Pease Development Authority, previously stated “Dr. Alexander Slocum, a board-certified surgeon practicing in Portsmouth, is proposing to construct” the new medical facility.

“A portion of the building would provide space for day surgeries, with the remainder dedicated to offices, waiting rooms, examination rooms and other spaces needed to accommodate approximately 20 professionals,” Mates said.

Slocum is one of the principals of ATDG LLC, according to documents filed with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office.

He previously said the company decided to open the Pease center because “our current outpatient surgery center at Griffin Park was constructed in the late 1990s, and the majority of the building now resides in a wetlands buffer.”

The new Pease surgical center “will support a wide range of outpatient surgical and procedural specialties,” Slocum said.

“We wanted to stay close to Portsmouth hospital, maintain a central location, and this site gave us enough room to expand while also having existing public transit onsite (a COAST Bus stop),” he said. “Not to mention, the PDA has been great to work with and the early feedback from them has really helped us refine and improve our project as a whole.”

— JEFF MCMENEMY/PORTSMOUTH HERALD