Two Southern California suburbs are finalists to land the coveted Tesla Motors plant planned to open in 2011.

The cities of Long Beach and Downey both claim to be vying for the plant, expected to bring 1,000 to 1,200 engineering and assembly jobs to the recession-plagued state. California has a 12.1 percent unemployment rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In an interview with the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said both cities were finalists for the plant. Musk said the possible locations were Long Beach’s former Boeing 717 aircraft plant, which ceased production in 2006, or a former NASA production site next to Downey Studios.

Possibly complicating the Long Beach deal is an alternative city plan to convert the Boeing plant into a movie studio. Musk did not comment on which city had the inside edge.

Musk told the Press-Telegram that Tesla will make a decision in early September. Funding for the plant will likely come from a recent $465 million low-interest loan Tesla received from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The plant will build the Model S electric sedan, which is expected to have a range of 300 miles on a full charge.

Community leaders in the northern California city of Fremont, home to the soon-to-be shuttered NUMMI joint venture between Toyota and General Motors, also have appealed to Tesla. But the company said NUMMI’s 5 million square feet is far too large for Tesla’s needs. Both Southern California sites are about 1 million square feet.