Southern Aluminum Finishing Co. could begin work by the middle of next year on a $12 million Redding facility that company officials say could eventually employ up to 100 people.

However, half of the expansion and about 50 of the new jobs are not expected until 2013, at the earliest.

Redding economic development director Jim Zauher hailed the expansion as proof that the city's long-anticipated Stillwater Business Park can succeed.

Zauher said that even though many manufacturers believe California is too expensive for businesses, Redding is the exception.

That's because land is inexpensive, tax credits abound and Redding Electric Utility charges the second lowest rates in the state. Those factors combine to allow profits not possible in other parts of the state, he said.

Redding is like being in California, but not in California, he added.

The distribution center, which would be built on Perron Lane off Eastside Road, comes before the city's Board of Administrative Review today.

SAF moved to Redding in March 2007 and operates out of a plant in the Mountain Lakes Industrial Park that employs six people. The building was formerly home to Tri-Tech Plastics, which has left the area.

The new plant would be built in two phases. Phase one would encompass 55,000 square feet and would employ between 30 and 50 people, SAF Redding Manager Jason Bonner said Tuesday. Bonner wouldn't discuss wages. Bonner said he doesn't have a timeline for construction.

Construction on the second phase, which would feature 50,000 square feet, most likely wouldn't start until at least 2013, Bonner said.

At full build-out, the new plant would employ nearly 100 people, he said.

SAF manufactures and distributes aluminum products that are used in commercial and industrial construction. The company is family-owned and started in 1946. Today, SAF has two plants in the Atlanta area; one in Nashville, Tenn.; and another in Charlotte, N.C. Combined, the plants have about 200 employees.

James McClatchey, vice president of production for SAF, has said his goal is to make the Redding plant emission-free and a no-drain facility, which means it wouldn't need a wastewater permit.

McClatchey estimates the Redding plant will cost about $12 million to build.

The land where SAF would build has two empty structures - a barn and an outbuilding - that would be removed. A city report on the project says that "of the handful of trees on the site, only one walnut tree is of a caliber that would warrant retention. However, the tree is located in the area needed for truck turning movements at the loading docks and is proposed to be removed."

As a condition of approval, the California Department of Transportation wants the southbound left-turn lane at River Ranch Road and Highway 273 to be extended 100 feet. Access to SAF's new plant will be from Eastside Road, which will be widened 24 feet to the south, city planners said.

Reporter Scott Mobley contributed to this report.Reporter David Benda can be reached at 225-8219 or at dbenda@redding.com.