Centex Investment Co. LLC has spent $1.2 million for 20 acres near the northeast corner of 99th Avenue and Buckeye Road. The development company plans to start construction immediately on a build-to-suit for Western Container, one of the largest producers of plastic bottles in the country. The plant's estimated development cost exceeds $15 million.

The facility will manufacture recyclable plastic bottles for Coca-Cola products. Western Container has signed a 10-year lease agreement and plans to occupy the building in June 2002. The company will rev up production with a crew of 110 and eventually have a 150-member workforce. "Significant capital investment like this is valuable not only to Tolleson, but to the region," says Rick Weddle, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

Tolleson is a six-square mile suburb surrounded by Phoenix. The parcel is two miles south of Interstate 10 and the exchange for the Agua Fria Freeway section of Loop 101. It also is near the Union-Southern Pacific Railroad line.Tolleson and much of the rest of western Phoenix, have become a haven for large manufacturing and distribution buildings. Relatively cheap land, easy freeway access, rail spurs and a convenient location for west coast distribution make it highly attractive.