UMass selling 20-acre plot of land near Boston campus

The University of Massachusetts is selling 20 acres of land near its Boston campus, hoping the sale can help the school's pressing financial needs.

UMass bought the site of the former Bayside Expo Center out of foreclosure in 2010 for less than $19 million. Real estate industry experts tell The Boston Globe the property could fetch $200 million or more.

UMass president Marty Meehan says the idea is to cash in on the current hot real estate market, raising money to demolish the crumbling parking garage that sits beneath much of the UMass-Boston campus, as well as to pay for other badly needed upgrades.

UMass-Boston faced a $30 million deficit last year.

Meehan says he would prefer an arrangement that includes room for UMass-Boston to expand.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com