MIAMI—After filing a $200 million lawsuit in January against the City of Aventura and gaining support from the local community earlier this month, the developers of Privé at Island Estates in Aventura have filed a second suit. This time, though, it's more personal.

Indeed, Privé Developers and BH3 Management have filed a #225 million lawsuit against specific residents in and near Williams Island. The complaint charges them with interfering with the developer's rights to build and trying to prevent the project from coming out of the ground.

“It's very clear that this small group of people has one objective and that is to kill our project,” says Daniel Lebensohn, a principal of BH3. “Our goal is to exercise our long-standing building rights, which have been in place since 1976, and deliver a first-class project to our purchasers and a lasting and enduring landscape which meaningfully and permanently contributes to the Aventura tax base to the benefit of all residents.  And that is exactly what we will do.”

According to the developers, the city has approved the project nine different times only to decline the issuance of building permits. This new lawsuit names individuals who live in Island Estates, the community directly adjacent to the island where Privé will be built, as well as individuals who live in neighboring Williams Island.

“These residents have no legitimate legal claims,” says Gary Cohen, a Privé development partner. “For 40 years we have had the right to build a condominium on our island and these people know it. But they are playing dumb now and conspiring to abuse the court system for their own self-interests.  We are not going to sit by and let them get away with it.”

 The City of Aventura could not immediately be reached for comment. But Cohen argues that Privé is about half the size and density of what can legally be built as-of-right. Instead of embracing the certainty of Privé and its reduced density, he accuses the residents in the suit of attempting to derail the currently slated project which may encourage and result in additional density.

“What these residents are trying to do is unconscionable,” says Lebensohn. “It's the most egregious case of 'Not in My Backyard” mentality I've ever witnessed.  Their issues aren't really about sidewalks, trespassing or whether we have a legitimate right to build, they're really about trying to block others from moving in and enjoying the same Florida lifestyle they already get to enjoy.”

The lawsuit also accuses some residents of wrongly interfering to kill an approved settlement agreement last year to end the property association litigation and allow the project to move forward. Last November, Privé was listed as “the most desirable” luxury development in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area by Elite Traveler magazine.  It will greatly increase the tax base for the City and create 400 new jobs.