The vacant Hynix computer chip factory is up for sale again at a three-day auction scheduled to conclude March 25.

The 1.2-million-square-foot factory was among Eugene’s largest employers when Hynix closed it 12 years ago amid a downturn in the memory chip market. But the 200-acre site up for sale has turned into an albatross, with successive owners abandoning plans to reopen it.

Economic boosters in Eugene hope this month’s auction could revive the property.

“The former Hynix facility could potentially be utilized by a number of different industries. The clean room for example would be of value to the pharmaceutical industry,” said Matt Sayre, managing director of Onward Eugene, a nonprofit group that promotes economic development.

The property has access to high-capacity internet service and high volumes of electricity. Coupled with various tax incentives, Sayre said it might be attractive as a data center.

Hynix Eugene timeline 1998: Korean memory chipmaker Hynix opens the $1.5 billion factory. 2008: Hynix closes its factory, eliminates 1,400 jobs. 2015: Communications chipmaker Avago buys the factory for $21 million and says it will spend another $400 million to reopen the factory. 2016: Avago, now called Broadcom, abandons plans to reopen. 2017: Industrial manufacturer Corning buys the site for $13.4 million at auction but never opens it. 2020: Factory again up for auction with a starting bid of $1.5 million.

Hynix, a South Korean company, spent $1.5 billion to build and equip the facility ahead of its 1998 opening. It became one of the Willamette Valley’s major economic engines, expanding the regional semiconductor ecosystem beyond Portland’s suburbs.

The memory chip market is historically volatile, though, and Hynix gave up on Eugene in 2008 – throwing 1,400 people out of work in one of the largest single layoffs in Oregon history.

The site has been idle ever since despite at least two serious looks at reopening it. Communications chipmaker Avago (later known as Broadcom) spent $21 million for the Eugene factory in 2015 and announced plans to spend $400 million to retool it and resume production.

A year later, though, the company walked away and later put the site back up for action. Industrial manufacturer Corning bought the factory for $13.4 million but announced no specific plans for the property and never reopened it.

Now, it’s back up for sale with a starting bid of just $1.5 million.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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