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UMass’ Bayside Expo Center in Dorchester could fetch $200M

2.5M square feet of development possible

The University of Massachusetts has officially put the 20-acre site of the old Bayside Expo Center up for sale.

It could go for at least $200 million, which would be quite the return on investment for UMass, which bought the site in foreclosure in 2010 for $18.7 million.

The asphalt expanse just east of the JFK/UMass stop of the busy, busy Red Line in Dorchester has seen plenty of interest since that 2010 purchase. It was at different points supposed to host a soccer stadium for the New England Revolution and the athletes village for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Both of those plans came and went, of course—hence the sale now.

Sixteen developers that responded to the university’s initial request for interest last fall will get first crack at trying to buy the Bayside site, per the Globe’s Tim Logan.

Whoever does win it would get to build big: That initial request envisioned up to 2.5 million square feet of new space, including housing and offices. In fact, UMass wondered aloud if the site might become “a modern-day Harvard Square.”

Stay tuned.