Nearly four months after Taiwan-based Hwa Fong Rubber announced plans to buy and re-activate the former Sumitomo Rubber complex and turn it into an auto components manufacturing hub, the company has yet to close on the real estate portion of the deal.
So, is that a development red flag that the deal may be going south?
Just the opposite, says Town of Tonawanda Supervisor Joseph Emminger.
"There's no reason to even think that," Emminger said.
Hwa Fong Rubber remains very interested in the sprawling, 130-acre River Road complex. It had hoped to close on the real estate portion of the deal by late December but due diligence has delayed the closing until later this winter.
Emminger said he has had recent discussions with Hwa Fong Rubber about infrastructure needs including tapping into more waterlines.
"And, they told me they'd like to be up and running by July 1," Emminger said.
Hwa Fong Rubber, in October, said it struck a deal with Sumitomo to buy the complex - anchored by the 105-year-old, 2 million-square-foot plant - for $28 million.
Hwa Fong Rubber would use the plant for its second U.S. operation, with the Tonawanda complex used to make a variety of rubber-based products for everything from bicycles to cars and motorcycles to buses.
The company hopes to hire at least 100 people initially but projects it may have more than 500 workers at its Tonawanda operation within the next few years.
In addition to its own operations, Hwa Fong Rubber will be developing the rest of the Sumitomo complex in auto components-based industrial park for local, state, national and international firms.
Those firms, combined, could see another 500 workers hired.
Sumitomo employed more than 1,500 people at the plant until it shut down operations in November 2024.
"It may not be the same as before, but it will still be a productive building and productive campus," Emminger said.