State officials describe it as one of the “most convenient locations in Boston” and all you need to get in on the action is a minimum bid of $167 million.

The 5.5-acre site at the southern gateway to downtown Boston could support up to 2 million square feet of transit-oriented development, Gov. Charlie Baker said earlier this year.

Named “SouthGate Boston” in an invitation to bid released this week, the four parcels include the Veolia North America steam plant on Kneeland Street and a Massachusetts Department of Transportation district office building, along with vacant parcels bordering I-93 ramps on the edge of Chinatown.

MassDOT set a minimum bid of $167 million for the 4.6-acre “core parcel” consisting of five properties. Developers also can bid on a 2-acre vacant parcel located on the median of I-93 near the entrance to the O’Neill Tunnel for $5 million. The oval site was created out of excavated soil from the Central Artery Tunnel project.

The minimum bid was determined by an independent valuation analysis, MassDOT spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard said in an email. 

The maximum development on the site will be subject to Boston Planning and Development Agency review. The design guidelines allow buildings up to 300 feet tall. The invitation to bid suggests that developers use Boston’s planned development area zoning mechanism “to create an iconic, mixed-use, transit-oriented development with significant height and density.”

Developers will be responsible for building a shell space within a new building or a new freestanding building to replace the steam plant and its equipment and exhaust pipes. The guidelines also require a 10,000-square-foot shell be built as cultural or civic space and made available rent-free for a non-profit or municipal operator.

At least 20 percent of housing units must be income-restricted, with 13 percent subject to the city’s inclusionary development policy and the remaining 7 percent set aside for households with incomes from 50 to 120 percent of the area median.

Housing and neighborhood activists have criticized MassDOT for not requiring enough affordable housing in the development guidelines.

Proposals are due on March 3.