How Did They Do That? R. Donahue Peebles Edition

In a time when a lot of us have 4 dollars in our pockets and maybe 400 dollars in the bank, a 4 billion dollar development portfolio is nothing to shake a stick at. Welcome to the world of R. Donahue Peebles. Luxury hotels, high-rise residential, class A commercial properties and developments in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami Beach grace this 51 year olds massive real estate portfolio.

Born to a single teenage mother in a working class neighbourhood, Peebles had a love for politics early on. At 14 he volunteered for the campaign of DC City Council Chair Sterling Tucker. From 1976 to 1978, Peebles attended the United States Capitol Page School at the Library Of Congress. He served as a legislative intern in the office of Representative Ronald V. Dellums (D-Calif) and served as a staff aide to Representative John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich). Politics remains a large part of Peebles life, currently serving as a member of President Barack Obama’s National Finance Committee where he established himself as one of the campaign’s leading fundraisers in the nation.

After completing his freshman year as a premed student at Rutgers University, Peebles became a real estate sales agent and appraiser in Washington, D.C. In 1983, at the age of 23, he established RDP Corporation, a residential and commercial real estate appraisal firm. Later that year, he was assigned to Washington’s Board of Equalization and Review, the real estate tax appeals board currently known as the Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals. Just a year later at 24, Washington’s Mayor Marion Barry appointed him Chairperson of the Board where he served until 1988. In 1986, Peebles identified a development site in downtown Washington and began to establish his career as a developer. In 1989 he completed and delivered the first new major commercial building built in the Anacostia area of Washington, D.C. Credited with sparking the economic re-development of the area, the Class-A office building spans 100,000 square feet on Martin Luther King Ave. SE. The nationwide economic downturn of the 1990s allowed Peebles to acquire roughly one million square feet of commercial buildings as well as development sites that could accommodate several million additional square feet of development in Washington, D.C.

In 1996, Peebles moved to Florida and opened an office in Miami. He began working on a public-private partnership with the City of Miami Beach. Eventually moving his corporate headquarters to Miami and went on to develop projects with values exceeding half a billion dollars. The projects included the Royal Palm Hotel and The Residences at The Bath Club. Peebles is known in Florida as a "real street fighter" due to lawsuits over his property development deals.In November 2010, Peebles' company was sued by D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles for alleged over-billing.

In addition to serving as CEO of his billion-dollar real estate development firm, Mr. Peebles is a highly sought after speaker and top selling author. He has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Black Enterprise and Ebony. Also appearing regularly on CNN, CNBC and FOX to advise on real estate, economic and political issues. He has been profiled on shows such as Neil Cavuto, The Big Idea and Larry King Live. In May 2009, Forbes listed Peebles in the top ten of the wealthiest black Americans in the country.

By Jodi Sonoda

Jodi has been blogging for over 3 years, and is excited to currently be blogging with Nexxt for collegejobbank.com, realestatejobsite.com and educationjobsite.com. She is attached to the internet at the hip and enjoys the constant connection. She spends most of her offline time playing dolls and reading picture books with her two year old. You can also occasionally find her rocking the mic at karaoke night.