Peebles to enter N.Y. development market

Don Peebles, a Fla.-based real estate developer, who's already built an array of four-star hotel, residential, office, hotel and mixed-use projects around the country, is looking at sites for his first N.Y. development. "It's been a dream of mine since I first started in this business in 1980," said Peebles, entrepreneur and CEO of Miami-based Peebles Corp. Peebles is also in advanced discussions with a major financial institution to create a private equity fund to assist up and coming entrepreneurial developers. The fund would be headquartered in Manhattan. Peebles expects to break ground by the end of the year on his largest project to date, the $2.8 billion Las Palmas hotel and entertainment complex in Las Vegas.