Dean Pickle--a subsidiary with Dean Foods, now part of the $10-billion, Dallas-based Suiza Foods conglomerate--secured the 20-year lease in December. The lease can be extended to 30 years via two 5-year options.

Half of the site will be filled with between 600 and 800 tanks for curing cucumbers. The other half of the site, which includes a 14,000-sf building, will be subleased to Hartung Foods. Hartung will purchase the cucumbers from Willamette Valley and other Pacific Northwest farms and then sort the cucumbers for curing by Dean.

Dean Pickle manufactures relishes, cranberries, syrup, boiled peanuts, olives and sauces, though not all at the Portland processing plant. During peak season, the processing plant employs about 250. The new 11-acre receiving and brining operation will employ about six people year around and an additional 60 during the peak cucumber processing season, according to the port.