Jeff Coleman is used to watching Pflugerville residents flee the city when it's time to go to work or even grab a bite to eat. But Coleman, mayor of Pflugerville, sees an end in sight to that trend.

A million-square-foot, $50 million industrial development near the intersection of State Highway 45 and State Highway 130 has broken ground, and is planned to have its first tenants moved in by early 2008. Springbrook Corporate Center is the city's first large-scale industrial project, and industrial analysts say it could lure more development and jobs, and help pave the way for a daytime population in the largely residential city.

Verde Corporate Realty Services, the project's developer, chose the site because of its proximity to the new highways and Pflugerville's proposed triple Freeport tax exemption, says Rob Wendt, principle with Verde. Pflugerville's city council is set to vote on the triple Freeport exemption Aug. 7. Setting up shop in a city with triple Freeport exemption means businesses don't pay city, county and school district taxes on exempt items.

With the help of a $1.3 million reimbursement from the city's 4B corporation, Verde will also add roads to the area, effectively connecting SH 45 and SH 130 through the Springbrook development.

"I think [SH 45 and SH 130] will have a huge impact on everything," says Wendt. "Verde's developing a project in Houston, along the Hardy toll road, and at first I had the mentality that they're not a good thing because you have to pay to use them. But ... toll roads are proving to be an advantage. Everyone wants sites on the toll roads."

Pflugerville has struggled to build something besides a residential base and propel itself out of its bedroom-community status, say Coleman and Charles Simon, director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. Almost all its residents leave the city every day to shop, work and find entertainment. In fact, Coleman is the first Pflugerville mayor to have a daytime job in the city.

But new highway frontage and an industrial development that spans 1 million square feet -- about the size of Lakeline Mall -- may be the catalysts to change that, analysts say.

"All that interstate frontage was annexed by Austin, so Pflugerville never had the benefit of I-35 being their front door," says Greg Marberry, vice president and industrial specialist with CB Richard Ellis Inc. "This is their opportunity to capitalize on a new front door. This provides them with an opportunity to capitalize on job growth and take advantage of a new road structure to get the industrial users they have sorely needed."

Marberry says the Springbrook project is one of the largest industrial projects in this real estate cycle, and easily the largest in Pflugerville. The city also has a million-square-foot retail center in the works, Stone Hill Town Center, which should have a Home Depot up and running by late 2007.

Verde hasn't signed any tenants yet, but Wendt says he anticipates getting tenants who will use the space for distribution and manufacturing.

Simon says he can't say how many jobs will be created, but estimated it will be in the hundreds.

• Verde Springbrook Co...