New Castle County would pay $9 million for the old General Motors plant on Boxwood Road near Newport.
The site was supposed to have housed a facility for Fisker Automotive – a deal that fell through when financing collapsed.
Councilman George Smiley said the county is looking for some kind of manufacturing but not an automotive company.
County Executive Tom Gordon told the Wilmington News Journal that he was looking to attract high-paying jobs.
Wanxiang America Incorporated now owns the 141 acre site after it bought Fisker Automotive’s assets in a March bankruptcy sale for $149-million.
The Boxwood plant is valued at $18 million.
Wanxiang is hoping to resurrect Fisker and its plug-in hybrid to compete with companies like Tesla.