TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -Chocolate maker Mars Inc. has selected a site in Topeka for its newest manufacturing plant which will initially bring 200 jobs to northeast Kansas.

Officials with the company, city and state said Wednesday that the project is the largest single investment in the Topeka economy in the city’s history.

Mars plans to build a 350,000-square-foot plant south of Forbes Field at a cost of $250 million in its first phase. The plant will be built on new industrial property south of Forbes Field and across from the Heartland Park race track.

Mars officials say the project could eventually create nearly 1,000 direct and indirect jobs in Topeka. Construction is expected to begin in August, with the plant beginning operations in late 2013 making M&M’s and Snickers candies.