By Karen Klinger

In Porter Square, it's the building people love to hate.

Some find it an odious structure that not only clashes in its stark modernism with the Victorian buildings in the surrounding neighorhood, but towers over--and obscures--the landmark St. James's Church across the street. To others, it is more of a metaphorical insult, a daily reminder that the city poked an entire neighborhood in the eye by allowing its construction over the strenuous objections of residents.

"It is universally loathed, and rightly so," says Porter Square Neighbors Association President Susan Hunziker.

But the 15-unit condominium complex at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Beech Street, still known as "Long's" for the funeral home previously located on the site, is more than that. As a housing development it has been an abject failure.

In its five-year existence, it has been the subject of contentious city hearings, a lawsuit brought by neighbors, an appeals court ruling, a state supreme court ruling, liens instituted by the city for non-payment of real estate taxes and to top it all off, foreclosure, which currently cannot happen because developer Husam Azzam has filed for bankruptcy.

Through it all, not one unit was ever sold, including the two units designated as affordable housing. The development has been partially rented, but not finished. Visible from the street are the studs in the walls of the unfinished interior of a penthouse unit that overlooks Mass Ave.

Last October, Azzam's lender foreclosed on the property and scheduled an auction for November 16. But before it could take place, Azzam filed for bankruptcy, postponing any sale indefinitely. Around the same time, the plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought against the city for granting Azzam a building permit won a key decision by the state supreme court allowing the case to be heard in Middlesex Superior Court. But the lawsuit, too, is stalled by the bankruptcy proceedings.

Neighbors involved in the case figure the city so far has spent thousands of dollars in its defense for allowing the building to go up despite complaints of abutters and other residents that the complex lacked the required number of parking spaces, among other problems.

On February 21, a legal notice appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle sure to add insult to injury for the long-suffering, taxpaying Porter Square residents who have to live with "Long's" every day. The notice said the city was placing liens on the property because Azzam had failed to pay property taxes on it.

A check of the city's database indicates that Azzam's current tax bill (unpaid since 2006) for the 15 units tops $45,000--and counting, with interest piling up daily.

Needless to say, the story of this very imposing, very expensive mistake in the heart of Porter Square is far from over. When it comes to this now notorious eyesore, there's always a next chapter.