Coke Florida hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Tampa Sales and Distribution Center.

The 800,000 square foot facility, a $250 million investment by Coke Florida, will sit on a 156-acre parcel and is located on U.S. Highway 301 between the Selmon Expressway and Causeway Boulevard. The state-of-the-art building will house most of the company’s Tampa operations, which employ over 800 associates across sales, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, fleet operations, and professional services.

Coke Florida added that the new campus will include a leading-edge warehousing system designed to improve the speed and accuracy of operations while putting less stress on associates.

“While we are only 7 years old as Coke Florida, the Coca-Cola system has been operating in Florida for over 100 years. This means we are built on a solid foundation of serving ice cold beverages to Floridians and visitors, providing good-paying and long-lasting jobs to Floridians, and being an involved member in the communities where we operate, said Troy Taylor, Coke Florida’s Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “I am proud of the additional economic activity that our operations and projects will bring to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area with this new facility and our soon-to-be-opened facility in St. Petersburg.”

Founded in 2015, Coke Florida is the third-largest privately held and sixth-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. The company, headquartered in Tampa, employs over 4,600 associates and serves over 21 million consumers.

Site preparation for the construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year. The construction of the facility is forecast to bring significant economic activity to the area and is expected to be completed in 24 to 36 months.

“I’m honored to be here with the Coke Florida team and with my friend, Troy Taylor. I have known Troy to be an excellent business leader and a visionary. The success of Coke Florida is evidence of that. I appreciate the success of Coke Florida as an organization but more so what touches my heart is the success of Coke Florida as a member of the community, understanding the responsibility to give back to our community so that everyone in our city and our county can enjoy the success that not only Coke Florida is realizing but our entire community is [realizing],”  said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor at today’s event. “So, this development is incredible, it is going to jump start growth and so much more development and bring other businesses into our community.”