Devens fusion research firm buys 12 acres next to $2B campus for potential expansion

Photo | Courtesy of Commonwealth Fusion Systems Commonwealth Fusion Systems campus in Devens.

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By Timothy Doyle

Commonwealth Fusion Systems of Devens purchased a 12-acre development site adjacent to its manufacturing and development facility at the former U.S. Army fort for potential future expansion.

MassDevelopment sold the land to the energy innovation company for just shy of $1.5 million in a transaction recorded on Friday by the Worcester District Registry of Deeds.

"CFS has purchased 105 Hospital Road in Devens, which gives us the option of expanding our campus, however we have not finalized any plans at this time,” CFS Head of Public Affairs Kristen Cullen said in a Tuesday email to WBJ.

The company has an obligation to build on the property before Aug. 10, 2030, according to an agreement with MassDevelopment, filed with the Worcester District Registry of Deeds, after which MassDevelopment has the option to repurchase the property.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems opened its neighboring 50-acre, $2-billion campus in February. It expects to have its SPARC tokamak, a magnetic device which contains a fusion reaction, in 2025 and hopes to feed fusion power to the grid by the early 2030s.

CFS purchased the site of that 50-acre campus at 111 Hospital Road and 117 Hospital Road from MassDevelopment in 2021 for $5.6 million.

MassDevelopment was formed in 1998 from a merger of the Government Land Bank and Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency and is focused on economic development in the commonwealth. After Fort Devens closed in 1996, MassDevelopment purchased the 4,400 acres of land with the aim of redeveloping the fort into a live-work-play community, according to the organization’s website.