Since there haven't been any Tony sightings in Lumberton, NC, it is possible that the Watchtower never planned to send him there.
The GB is no doubt aware of the problems they would face if the exJW community found Tony and talked to him. So my guess is that the Lumberton property purchase was a ruse to distract exJWs while the Watchtower relocated Tony somewhere else. Where? One can only guess. But one thing for sure is that the GB doesn't want Tony talking to exJWs.