This is why they're hot

Apparently, Huy Fong Foods Inc. - which produces and distributes the ever popular Sriracha sauce - is getting a little too hot for Rosemead.

The company is in negotiations with Irwindale to move its entire operation to a 22.9-acre site on Azusa Canyon Road. Talks have been ongoing for nearly nine months, and Irwindale City Manager Robert Griego said he hopes to put a cap on it by December.

The owner of Huy Fong declined to comment on the plans Wednesday. But officials in Rosemead and Irwindale said the company is simply getting too big for its own facilities.

"It looks like we're close to finalizing the actual transaction," Griego said. "It's really exciting because their plans are to actually double in size over a period of time."

Huy Fong is currenlty housed at a 68,000-square-foot plant in Rosemead. But the company has grown since first opening shop in 1986.

"When you have places like Irwindale, which may be to offer a cheaper place to do business ... I don't blame a business for wanting to jump on that," said Councilman Steven Ly.

Upon learning of the negotiations, Rosemead officials at City Hall Wednesday morning were trying to schedule a meeting with the company's owner -- an 11th-hour bid to persuade Huy Fong to stay put.

"We just want to speak with them to find out if there's anything we can do to entice them," Rosemead City Manager Jeff Allred said. "But we also understand they are very much a booming business and they have expansion needs."

If they move to the Irwindale, Huy Fong plans to increase its operating facilities by nearly 10 times -- constructing a 626,186-square-foot building with offices, a warehouse and a manufacturing plant, said Ray Hamada, Irwindale's director of planning and community development.

It would probably take a year and half to two years to complete the move, Griego said.

Officials have not named a price on the land, at 4702 Azusa Canyon Road, just yet, but the property is appraised at about $20 million, Hamada said.