PHILADELPHIA — It’s not often that 1,300 acres of industrial land become available on the edge of a major city center, especially not with good road, rail and water links to the outside world. But the shutdown and bankruptcy of a major refinery have put the site and its infrastructure into play.

More than a dozen entities are interested in buying all or part of the South Philadelphia Refinery, which was shut down in June after an explosion caused an extensive fire. Before its closing, the refinery produced more gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined products than any other refinery on the East Coast.

The large size of the parcel, its location in the heart of the Northeast and its proximity to transportation make it an attractive proposition to energy companies that want to restart all or part of the refinery, or combine its previous output with biofuels or renewable energy such as solar.

“For this mass of ground to become available is extraordinary,” said J. Eustace Wolfington, the senior managing director in the Philadelphia office of Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate firm.