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A vacant computer-chip plant in Eugene could be converted into a manufacturing facility for solar cells.

South Korean firm Uni-chem Co. this spring signed a contract with Hynix, the plant’s owner, to buy the building and its surrounding land for $45 million. But negotiations for the purchase are ongoing, said Jack Roberts, executive director of the Lane Metro Partnership, Lane County’s business arm.

“We’re hoping to know for sure this fall,” Roberts said. “They have to get financing in place. We want to be careful people don’t get their hopes up for something that won’t happen.”

If all goes well with the sale, Uni-chem Co. would hire between 300 and 500 people for the new facility, Roberts said. The city of Eugene lost about 1,500 jobs when Hynix shut down its computer-chip operation in 2008, Roberts said.

Though a large portion of Uni-chem Co.’s business is in the leather products industry, it acquired a 51 percent share of Spire Solar System last year. The company’s solar arm, Uni-chem Solar, currently operates out of New Hampshire.