Buyer of vacant Connersville factory gets more time

Officials of an eastern Indiana city are giving the potential buyer of a large vacant auto parts factory more time to close on the purchase.

The city of Connersville bought the site from Visteon in 2009 while wooing Carbon Motors Corp. and its planned 1,500-worker high-tech police car plant. Those plans have stalled since Carbon's bid for a $310 million federal loan was rejected in March.

The Connersville Board of Works voted 3-1 on Friday to set a new March 31 closing deadline. Mayor Leonard Urban announced in September the company he wouldn't identify had offered $4 million for the factory.

Urban says the buyer is actively negotiating with a potential tenant, the Connersville News-Examiner reported.

Board member Jane Oakley said no other purchase offers have been made.