Rear ported speakers?

Lotsa variables in play, but they certainly could work.  Depends on your room/floor construction, equipment, placement, stand height, etc.  Spendor made some great speakers, so I'd be eager to give them a try and experiment some.

A rear port does not inherently mean a speaker can't be placed near a wall.  Generally, speakers with long ports are pretty good near wall.  And you can't assume sealed of front ported speakers will be good.  I can show you speakers that are front ported or sealed that need more 3-5' of space from the wall for soundstage to come together.  

They are suggesting it is okay so might be worth a shot.  Worst case scenario, you can usually add a port "bung" which will help but it does tend to trim 10-20hz of bass response off so assume you will need a subwoofer.  

That is a very nice speaker overall, and I think that if you can give it that 12" you'll get good results.

I am not a fan of ports, even if far enough from walls, and if ports, front facing, not side or rear.

There are a lot of speakers out there, I say keep looking.

Size limitations? Budget? Are you considering used?

@ elliottbnewcombjr
I have owned many LS3/5a type of speakers that are a sealed design. I love my Harbeth P3ESRs. I came across this used pair of the Spendor 3/1 and was just curious if it would be problematic if close to a wall. I don’t want to get stuck with a speaker that might not be that easy to resell without taking a bath. I think I will pass on them because the seller will not come down on his asking price!!

Maybe his price is fair. I say that because after a long time in retail, and just as a general observation, many people don't feel that they're "getting the deal" unless they get a discount off of what is already a very fair price. 

.@roxy54
 I know what the speaker should sell for. I gave the seller a fair offer. I did not lowball him!