Michael Swerdlow wants rival developer Don Peebles jailed over a four-year-old unpaid $800,000 judgment.
In a Jan. 7 motion, an entity managed by Swerdlow, who leads Coconut Grove-based Swerdlow Group, wants Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Thomas Rebull to find Peebles of criminal contempt outside the courtroom. Peebles should be “incarcerated” if Rebull concludes the founder of Miami Beach-based The Peebles Corporation violated a post-judgment court order issued in May, Swerdlow’s motion states.
The $800,000 represents legal fees and costs Swerdlow won against Peebles in 2022 tied to their long-running legal battle over a land deal for in Overtown. Swerdlow and his partners SJM and Alben Duffie bought the 3.4-acre property at 249 Northwest Sixth Street for $10 million in 2020. The same year, two Peebles entities sued Swerdlow, his affiliate and Duffie for allegedly sabotaging Peebles’ involvement in the land deal.
Four years later, the joint venture completed Block 55 at Sawyer’s Walk, a mixed-use center featuring 578 senior affordable housing apartments and a 251,000-square-foot office and retail center anchored by Target and Aldi stores.
Michael Higer, an attorney representing Peebles and two of his entities, dismissed the allegations in Swerdlow’s recent motion. “We believe it is completely frivolous,” Higer said.
Swerdlow and his legal team declined comment. In a 2024 interview with The Real Deal, the developer blasted Peebles’ lawsuit. “[The allegations] were so ridiculous that the judge threw out every one of them on summary judgment,” he said at the time. “Nobody thought [Peebles] had a chance.”
Peebles dissolved the two entities that owe the $800,000 judgment in August, state corporate records show. In doing so, he circumvented Rebull’s May order placing the two entities under control of a receiver, and blocking him from taking any actions on behalf of the entities without court approval, Swerdlow’s motion alleges.
Swerdlow’s request to have Peebles arraigned for criminal contempt carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail. Peebles’ alleged end‑run around the receivership is the type of conduct that justifies criminal contempt sanctions to “vindicate the authority and dignity of the court,” Swerdlow’s motion asserts.
Peebles is known for getting into legal fights over government-owned sites he bids on. In January of last year, he and partner Victor MacFarlane sued the City of Los Angeles for allegedly unlawfully terminating their contract to build the $1.6 billion Angels Landing project Downtown. The project was billed as among the largest African-American-led developments in the city’s history.
Swerdlow is among the most active developers of government-owned sites in Miami-Dade County. His next big swing is the $3 billion Little River District, a 64-acre redevelopment that would blanket a nearly mile-long stretch between Miami neighborhoods Little River and Little Haiti. The plan, backed by a 99-year ground lease with Miami-Dade County, envisions roughly 5,700 units on a site assembled from county-owned land and parcels controlled by AJ Capital Partners.
Roughly 314 apartments would be reserved for residents displaced from four public housing projects, while nearly 3,700 units would be set aside for households earning between 60 percent and 120 percent of the area median income. The first phase, recently cleared by federal housing officials, calls for two new buildings with 600 apartments, while future phases would add a Home Depot, a BJ’s Wholesale Club, a supermarket and a new Tri-Rail station.
