What might have been: above, a rendering of the now-defunct Jean Nouvel plan for a 31-story condo-cum-hotel development at 848 Washington Street in the Meatpacking District. For those who missed the fun, a Curbed timeline of this tumultuous project:
1) NYMag sings project's praises: "Its catchy design by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel has also earned it fans" [NYMag, 9/8/02]
2) Developer Stephen Touhey lobbying for variance to build residential development; praises neighborhood: "It's cool to see the beef unloaded from the trucks" [Observer, 12/16/02]
3) Fearing defeat, Touhey withdraws plan for condos [GVSHP, 3/1/03]
[inside: the timeline continues, plus another view of the now-deceased Nouvel tower straddling the High Line]
4) High Line juror praises development:"This would give the High Line energy beyond that of being purely a public project" [ArchNewsNow, 7/15/03]
5) Meatpackers oppose plan: "A guy like me, if I go to the Bronx, I'm sunk. All my customers are local" [Villager, 7/16/03]
6) Nouvel joins roster of Ground Zero architects [NYT, 10/1/03]
7) Touhey recasts project as boutique hotel, says plans to build moving ahead [NYObserver, 10/6/03]
8) Congressman Jerrold Nadler claims "collusion", calls on Bloomberg to stop construction [NYDN, 10/15/03]
9) City reverses ruling allowing high-rise residential development in manufacturing zones; activists celebrate [GVSHP, 4/20/04]
10) Andre Balazs snaps up property; plans own hotel with design more in scale with that of neighborhood [Curbed, 6/10/04]