Miami Dade College announced that it would shelve its plan to develop real estate it owns downtown in Miami due to a soft market. Not content to leave it there, the school’s administration singled out the growing acrimony between the college and art dealer Gary Nader:

Trustees said there’s nothing stopping them from once again pursuing the redevelopment of the 2.6-acre faculty parking lot at 520 Biscayne Blvd. when the market is back on the upswing. But they slammed Gary Nader, an art dealer whose Nader + Museu LLP development team submitted an unsolicited proposal last year to build a college cultural center and luxury condos only to protest when the college went a different direction.

Trustees said legal bills defending his lawsuits had “reached into the six-figure range,” and accused Nader of being eager to “smear” the college in the media.

“Nader’s refusal to sign an agreement not to sue makes it impossible to quantify the college’s exposure to ongoing litigation,” said chairman Armando J. Bucelo, Jr. “I’m not comfortable moving forward on a path that appears to lead to more litigation.”

Bill Riley, an attorney representing Nader + Museu, said his clients have been unfairly branded as obstructionists by the college for trying to defend their rights as bidders.

Miami Dade College scraps downtown museum project  (Miami Herald)