For years Kendall Square was a place people worked, not a place they lived, and much of it emptied out after business hours. That is changing quickly, and the timing matters if you own in or around Kendall, or want to.
What is Kendall Common?
Kendall Common is MIT’s redevelopment of the former Volpe Transportation Center site, and it is the biggest change coming to the neighborhood. The City of Cambridge describes it as nearly 3 million square feet of mixed-use space. MIT is building it on the 10 acres left after it built a new federal Volpe Center on the other four acres of the 14-acre parcel.
According to MIT’s approved master plan, the project includes:
- About 1,400 homes, including 280 permanently affordable units
- About 1.7 million square feet of lab, research and office space
- More than 3.5 acres of public open space across four parks
- A community center, plus ground-floor retail and restaurants
- All-electric residential buildings
The parks are planned for the corner of Third Street and Broadway, along Sixth Street and Loughrey Way, next to the community center, and on Binney Street, per the City of Cambridge.
The first building is already underway. Biogen signed a 15-year lease for about 580,000 square feet at 75 Broadway and plans to move its global headquarters there in 2028. Biogen broke ground in September 2025, and the move will consolidate three leased Kendall buildings into one.
What drives housing demand in Kendall Square?
MIT is the engine of the neighborhood, and its research and teaching jobs support steady housing demand year after year. Add Biogen, Moderna, Google and hundreds of biotech firms, and the employment base is unusually deep for one square mile.
The newest wave is AI:
- Anthropic signed a 24,000-square-foot lease across two floors at One Kendall Square in September 2026. Co-founder and president Daniela Amodei called Cambridge “a natural place for Anthropic to put down roots.”
- Blitzy, founded in Cambridge in 2023, signed a five-year, 52,000-square-foot lease at One Kendall Square, the largest new office lease in Cambridge so far in 2026 according to JLL. It expects to move in during the second quarter of 2027.
- AI is now most of the new leasing. JLL, which represented Blitzy, said AI companies account for more than 60% of new office leasing volume across Cambridge so far this year, as The Boston Globe reported.
This is a recovery, not a boom. About a quarter of Cambridge office space was still vacant at the end of September, though occupied space grew by roughly 98,000 square feet from July through September, driven mostly by AI companies, per a Newmark report covered by Boston.com. New office leasing adds to housing demand nearby.
What’s new in Kendall Square for dining and getting around?
New restaurants and amenities are filling in. For years, much of Kendall’s activity wound down after the workday, and that is starting to change.
Eastern Edge, an 11,000-square-foot food hall at 290 Main Street next to the Kendall/MIT T stop, opened on February 13, 2026. It seats 275 and has nine food and drink vendors, including Clover, Juicy Jay’s, Perillas Korean Kitchen, Everybody Gotta Eat and Việt Citron, per The Boston Globe and Boston.com. There are two bars and a Venetian-inspired café and bar.
The location is the part people underestimate:
- Beacon Hill: walk or bike across the Longfellow Bridge and you are at the foot of Charles Street.
- Red Line: Kendall/MIT puts downtown Boston, Harvard Square and the rest of Cambridge a few stops away.
- East Cambridge and Charlestown: both are close by on foot or bike.
For buyers who work in Kendall, or who are comparing it with Beacon Hill, the South End or Back Bay, that transit access is often what puts it on their list. Our guide to where to live if you work near Kendall Square maps every line, bus and shuttle into the square.
Why are condos in and around Kendall Square so hard to find?
For-sale condos in Kendall’s core are genuinely rare. River Court at 10 Rogers Street is one of very few full condo buildings at the edge of Kendall Square. 303 Third Street is legally a condo building, but one owner holds nearly all of its roughly 190 units and rents them out. Only about 10 are individually owned, so one rarely comes up for sale. Most buyers who want to own near Kendall widen their search to nearby buildings, such as Canal Park, the Museum Towers, The Esplanade and the buildings around CambridgeSide.
What this means if you’re buying or selling
For buyers: Scarcity is the story. You are buying one of a small number of condos in or near a neighborhood that is being built up, with new parks, dining and employers arriving over the next few years. Today’s slower market also means more room to negotiate than buyers in this area have had in a long time. It’s a great opportunity.
For sellers: The condo market has faced real headwinds in 2026, and Kendall is not immune. Units are taking longer to sell, construction across the street gives some buyers pause, and financing limits in certain buildings narrow the buyer pool. Qualified buyers are out there, but pricing and positioning matter more than ever. A list price that ignores financing realities usually ends in price cuts later. Our condo buying guide explains how lenders review a building.
Thinking about buying or selling in or around Kendall Square?
We know these buildings, their financing and what it takes to get a deal done here. Whether you own a unit and are weighing a sale, or you’ve been watching the neighborhood and wondering if now is the time, let’s talk.
Sources
- City of Cambridge: Volpe Site Transforming Into Mixed-Use Project
- MIT News: Volpe project prepares for design phase
- Biogen: Biogen Announces Plans for New Global Headquarters and Innovation Hub in Kendall Square
- The Boston Globe: Amid industry headwinds, Biogen breaks ground on new headquarters
- The Harvard Crimson: Anthropic signs 24,000-square-foot lease in Cambridge
- ConnectCRE: AI software company signs Cambridge’s largest office lease of 2026
- The Boston Globe: AI firm Blitzy signs Cambridge’s largest office lease this year
- Boston.com: Could AI and robotics help fill Cambridge’s empty offices?
- The Tech: Eastern Edge Food Hall opens in Kendall Square on Feb. 13
- The Boston Globe: A new food hall just opened in Cambridge. Here are the restaurants inside.
- Boston.com: Eastern Edge, a food hall in Kendall Square, is now open
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide: Project standards for condo loans
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. All real estate services are provided in compliance with federal, state and local fair housing laws. Equal Housing Opportunity.