Tesla Motors is close to a deal to build an electric car factory at the site of a former NASA manufacturing plant in Downey, Calif., a blue-collar city south of Los Angeles, Mayor Mario Guerra said Tuesday.

The City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved an agreement aimed at luring Tesla's electric car manufacturing plant there.

The city is pinning hopes that the car factory could bring $21 million in city revenue over 15 years, create about 1,200 jobs and help revitalize its reputation as Southern California's high-tech hub.

"Not only will it bring money to the city, it will establish us as a leader in electric car and green technology production," Guerra said.

For nine months the city has aggressively courted Tesla, a Bay Area company known for its sporty all-electric Roadster and now moving toward more mainstream sedans.

In September, the council took out a half-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times featuring a photo of the members wearing "Downey (hearts) Tesla" T-shirts and holding a banner that read: "Downey Welcomes Tesla Motors. Apollo to Tesla ... the legacy continues."

Downey, a city of 115,000, was once a vibrant center of high tech manufacturing jobs where aerospace engineers designed and built parts for America's space program. At its height, there were about 30,000 employees at the complex, but when the plant closed in 1999, the complex fell into disrepair.

The city bought 160 acres of land from NASA and has been trying to redevelop it. A hospital, park, shopping center and memorial dedicated to the shuttle Columbia now occupy half of the complex. The other half became a film production facility used in the making of Ironman,G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and at least one of the Spiderman films.