South Beach Condo Association Sues Miami Beach Over Ocean Drive "Strip Club"

This summer, when rumors began to spread that a new King of Diamonds strip club would open on South Beach's Ocean Drive, rapper Akinyele Adams fought back hard.

The former KOD owner insisted his new venture — which the current KOD proprietors say has nothing to do with their establishment — was nothing more than a sexy soul-food restaurant with "the beautifulest bartenders, the beautifulest waitresses."

But his upstairs neighbors at the Netherland weren't buying it, pointing to promotional videos Adams has posted online.

The condo association that shares the building at 1330 Ocean Dr. has since filed a lawsuit against the city, saying the club violates Miami Beach's code. 

"Mr. Adams states in these videos that the venue will be a 'strip club' and will be, at a minimum, promoted by the King of Diamonds Gentleman's Club," attorney Gray Robinson wrote in a letter to the city's planning department. "He also warns viewers 'don't get too close to the ladies or you will pay child support,' clearly suggesting that prostitution and or some other sexual activity may occur inside the premises."

#3 Audition

A video posted by Vlive Miami (@vlivemia) on Oct 13, 2016 at 5:52pm PDT

The legal argument revolves around whether the club is located on the second floor or the upper lobby. To enter the space, a person walking in from Ocean Drive must walk up a few steps to access the restaurant. The city's code says the second floor of a condo can't be used for commercial purposes, although the space has long been used as a restaurant, including a blink-and-you'll-miss-it attempt by Mob Wives star Big Ang in 2013. 

City attorneys point to this fact in a motion they filed in October to dismiss the case, adding that the condo association doesn't own the units and should have made its case when the initial restaurant permit was issued for the space in 2009. Neither the city attorney's office nor the lawyer for the condo association responded to New Times to comment on the suit. 

In the meantime, it appears the fears of the Beach's most vocal pearl-clutchers have come to fruition: Adams has joined forces with a strip-club franchise called V Live and begun recruiting "bartenders" with more than 100,000 Instagram followers.

The club has also been posting videos of the auditions on its social media channels, although it appears the club will be pole-less. 

As of this week, a city spokeswoman said the club had been inspected but not yet cited for any code violations.