Third Square is Forced to Sell Condos

A dozen former and current MIT and Harvard University professors have won a suit against a developer who promised them units in a Cambridge luxury development.

The professors filed suit in April 2009, claiming the developer, a joint venture of Equity Residential and Extell Development Corp., did not follow through on an agreement under which the professors would purchase units the development, called Third Square., in Cambridge’s Kendall Square neighborhood. The professors sought the units because it was close to their professional and academic obligations, according to court documents.

A Superior Court judge determined that the purchase and sales agreements are binding on the defendants and enforceable, according to a ruling issued this week.

In her decission, Judge Frances A. McIntyre ordered the developer to provide the plaintiffs’ attorney completed condominum documents within 10 days. Further, after the documents are formalized, the developer must record the condominum documents and schedule closings within a two-week window, per the judge’s decision.

“There are no money damages that will redress and remedy the loss these plaintiffs suffered when the defendant breached its contract with each of them,” McIntyre wrote. “No other residence or any amount of money damages will give them the benefit of the bargain they negotiated with the defendant.”

The development was originally approved for 527 units in two buildings, the so-called North and South developments. The North building contains rental units and was not part of the suit.

According to prior BBJ reports, the plaintiffs claimed last year that the developer was in discussion with the city of Cambridge to rent the South building as apartments. A Superior Court judge issued an injunction last June, prohibiting the developer from renting or leasing the units it pledged to sell.