Back in 2006, the first plans surfaced for 345 West 14th Street, a three-story building that Morris Adjmi Architects planned to turn into a residential development with movable shutters to block out the Meatpacking District from all angles. But that never happened. Instead, Andre Balazs, Jay-Z, and a couple of developers joined up to buy the property for $30 million, with plans to turn it into a hotel. And that's where things started getting wacky.
The team defaulted on its $24 million mortgage, making for Jay-Z's second hotel death in the area. But the fine print seemed to indicate they could get out of their payment guarantee if they just returned the deed to the lender. So they sent it back via FedEx?only the lender rejected the package. Legal wrangling continued, the Journal reports, until DDG Partners (the team behind 41 Bond Street) stepped in to buy the loan last month. DDG is still working on its plan for the site. We're kinda hoping they bring back the shutter concept, but perhaps they'll take other suggestions via FedEx.
· 14th Street Hotel Project Goes Nowhere [WSJ]
· On West 14th, Shutting MePa Out [Curbed]