Council to Review Proposed Medical Office Development

The City Council on Monday will conduct a pre-development plan review (PPR) of a revision to a planned development that includes a 60,000 square-foot medical office building at 50 Alessandro Place.

The site is currently occupied by a 62,300 square-foot, four-story, medical office building with 437 parking spaces located above ground and in a partially subterranean garage.

“The proposed project consists of the retention of the existing medical office building and the partially subterranean parking garage, and a revision to the development standards of planned development to facilitate the construction of a 60,000 square-foot, three-story, medical office building and a five-level, above-grade parking garage with 321 parking spaces,” according to a city staff report.

PPRs are part of the city’s zoning code, designed as a process to help produce better projects through early consultation between city staff and applicants.

Under this process, projects that meet the threshold of “community-wide significance,” are greater than 50,000 square-feet in size, contain 50 or more housing units, or any project that is deemed by the director of planning and community development department to be of major importance to the city are presented to the council as a way to inform the board’s members and the public about major upcoming projects.

The process helps familiarize applicants with the regulations and procedures that apply to the projects and avoids significant investment and time in the design of a project without preliminary input from city staff.

It also helps to identify potential issues that may arise during the application process, such as community concerns and inconsistencies with city regulations and policies.