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R. Donahue Peebles Settles Dispute with Miami Beach; Will Convert Portion of Royal Palm
Crowne Plaza to Time-share Units
By Richard Brand, The Miami Herald
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News 

Nov. 14--The owner of the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza hotel, the first majority black owned convention style hotel in the country, has agreed to settle $11 million in claims against Miami Beach in a deal that would allow part of the resort to be converted into condominiums. 

Since the hotel opened in May with much celebration, R. Donahue Peebles and the city have squabbled over back rent, environmental cleanup costs and costs related to construction delays. 

Both sides said Wednesday they were pleased to reach an agreement that would end the disputes. 

"We wanted to put this behind us," City Manager Jorge Gonzalez said. 

His words were echoed by Peebles. 

Last month, the city -- which owns the land at 1545 Collins Ave. on which the hotel stands -- said Peebles failed to pay $600,000 in more than a year's back rent. 

Peebles acknowledged withholding the money and said he did so because the city owed him $800,000 for cleaning up environmental contamination at the site. He also blamed the city for $10 million in construction delays. 

As part of the deal, Peebles agreed not to pursue those claims and will pay the city half of the $600,000 past-due rent. In return, Peebles will be able to convert the former Shorecrest, one of the hotel complex's two buildings, into condominiums that will be sold similar to time-share units. 

The city was a partner in the deal to build the hotel and made Peebles a $10 million loan. Peebles said the entire project cost $74 million, $10 million more than anticipated. 

Building a black-owned hotel in Miami Beach was the cornerstone of a 20-point plan that ended a black tourist boycott that lasted nearly three years. 

-----To see more of The Miami Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.miami.com 

(c) 2002, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SXC, 


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