Medical Device Company Looking to Build in Merrimack

The Dec. 6 Planning Board meeting will be the first in what is likely to be a series with planners and developers for a more than 300,000 square foot research, manufacturing and office facility proposed by Atrium Medical Corp.

Currently based in Hudson, Atrium is a medical device company with additional offices in Germany, Australia, England, France, Germany, India and the Netherlands.

Merrimack Community Development Director Tim Thompson said Wednesday that the company filed plans Tuesday after three or four months of discussion with the town. The proposed building would be on Robert Milligan Parkway near the Camper's Inn off Daniel Webster Highway.

The property is currently owned by Rykel Company Inc., of Bow and is used as an excavation space by the Audsley Co., also of Bow.

Thompson said Atrium is looking to build headquarters with space for offices, research development, a warehouse and manufacturing facility.

According to the plans filed with the the planning department, the 311,000 square-foot building would house a three-story office, two-story research center, one-story production area and one-story warehouse.

“This project was just getting into the works when I got here in August,” Thompson said. “They were finally ready to submit plans this week.”

The building would “infuse about 500 jobs into the community” and there is an option in the plans to expand to about 700 jobs within a 400,000 square-foot facility, Thompson said.

The currently-proposed building is about half the size of the new Outlet Mall, two miles down the road.

Thompson said the facility would live in a largely under-developed area of town where there are currently about 415 acres of undeveloped industrial/commercial land.

Thompson said the idea of a business like this coming to town is exciting in terms of building a non-residential tax base and helping to boost the local economy.

“It absolutely is (a good thing),” Thompson said of the proposal. “This is one of the things we're really hopeful to see happen in town as the economy continues to improve.”

Representatives from Atrium Medical Corp. did not return messages seeking comment. They will meet with the Planning Board on Dec. 6 and Thompson said if everything goes smoothly, conditional approval could be granted by early 2012 and the company hopes to break ground in late spring or early summer.