After a series of court defeats<\/a> for Peebles\u2019 entities, they also were hit with an $800,000 tab in 2022 for legal fees and costs due to Downtown Retail Associates, an entity managed by Swerdlow.\u00a0<\/p>\n Swerdlow\u2019s team filed a motion in January for criminal contempt<\/a> in the Miami-Dade civil court case against Peebles, saying he should be \u201cincarcerated\u201d<\/a> if the judge finds he violated a post-judgment court order in May of last year. That order appointed a receiver over two entities tied to Peebles and on the hook for the $800,000 tab.\u00a0<\/p>\n In its motion, Downtown Retail Associates argued that the dissolution of Peebles\u2019 two entities circumvented the May receivership court order and amounted to \u201cindirect criminal contempt of the court.\u201d The motion for criminal contempt carried a maximum penalty of six months in jail.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Downtown Retail Associates has called off this effort. In an April filing, the entity withdrew its criminal contempt motion, citing sworn deposition testimony by Erika Avila, in which she said the dissolution of the entities in violation of the receivership order \u201cwas not done intentionally,\u201d according to Downtown Retail Associates\u2019 filing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Avila is listed as executive assistant to Peebles at Miami Beach-based The Peebles Corporation, according to the company\u2019s website.\u00a0<\/p>\n A transcript of Avila\u2019s testimony isn\u2019t yet attached in court records.\u00a0<\/p>\n Peebles called this a \u201cvindication\u201d and pointed out attorneys for Downtown Retail Associates withdrew the motion for criminal contempt themselves before the court even ruled on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have said all along it was, of course, absurd and without merit. \u2026 Here now I have been vindicated by them [Downtown Retail Associates], so that meant they didn\u2019t even think it had an iota of merit,\u201d Peebles said. \u201cFrankly, their motion couldn\u2019t pass the laugh test. Is it laughable? It didn\u2019t pass that in my view.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Swerdlow and his attorneys didn\u2019t return requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t end the battle.\u00a0<\/p>\n Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Thomas Rebull last month granted a motion by Downtown Retail Associates that amounts to a continued bid to collect on the $800,000, including potentially pursuing the funds directly from The Peebles Corporation and have it disclose its assets.<\/p>\n During the course of the receivership over the two Peebles-tied entities, it became clear that one of the affiliates, TPC Overtown Block 45, \u201chad no real existence or capitalization,\u201d leading to the February discharge of the receiver, the motion says. The filing, which described Peebles\u2019 April deposition as \u201cvacillating from evasive to incomplete,\u201d goes on to claim TPC Overtown was never sufficiently capitalized or had assets to meet its obligations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The motion then goes on to say that The Peebles Corporation has assets, including office furniture and equipment, stock and membership interests, bank accounts and other personal property, that potentially can be used to pay off the $800,000 according to Downtown Retail\u2019s filing.\u00a0<\/p>\n In his approval of Downtown Retail Associates\u2019 motion, Rebull pointed out he\u2019s making no findings of fact regarding the motion\u2019s allegations about The Peebles Corporation\u2019s assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2020, Swerdlow\u2019s Coconut Grove-based Swerdlow Group and its partners, SJM and Duffie, bought the disputed Overtown property for $10 million<\/a>. About two years ago, they completed the Sawyer\u2019s Walk<\/a> development on the site with 578 senior affordable housing apartments and a 251,000-square-foot office and retail center anchored by Target and Aldi stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n Swerdlow\u2019s next big project is the redevelopment of a collection of public housing complexes in Miami\u2019s Little River with over 20 buildings with 5,730 units<\/a>, combined, including 314 replacement public housing apartments. The project is being done through the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program that opens the door for developers to work with counties and municipalities to redevelop or renovate public housing that has struggled due to underfunding.<\/p>\n \tRead more \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDevelopment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSouth Florida\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Q & A: Michael Swerdlow dishes on Overtown project and other recent deals<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDevelopment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSouth Florida\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Inside the developer gold rush to update Miami-Dade\u2019s aging public housing<\/p>\n \t\t\t<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Bluenest, Related Group, Swerdlow are top donors to Miami-Dade politicians\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ft_MIA_Swerdlow-QA-150x106.jpg\")
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