Bar One Miami is on the brink of eviction, but Peter Thomas isn’t going down without a fight. The ex-husband of Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey is waist-deep in litigation over unpaid rent. Of course, Peter has opened a slew of clubs and restaurants over the year. On RHOA, we saw him launch Bar One Atlanta, and we followed him as he grew the brand across the East Coast.
Then, the ladies visited Bar One Miami on The Real Housewives of Potomac. Dr. Wendy Osefo even tried to get into business with Peter to open a Nigerian-inspired lounge, but that never panned out. But do you remember that nasty fight between Mia Thornton and Wendy while having dinner at Bar One Miami? Well, now the landlord of that space is threatening Peter with eviction over unpaid rent, but Peter is in court fighting back.
Bar One, Bar None
Peter first leased out the space for Bar One Miami in 2018. According to the landlord, Bentley Bay Retail, Peter has consistently had issues paying the rent over the years. Eventually, the unpaid debt piled up to $270,000. Peter and the landlord agreed to pay it off in installments, but the deal would be terminated if any checks were returned. The landlord claimed five of Peter’s checks bounced since setting that payment agreement, thus voiding their agreement.
In October 2022, Bentley Bay Retail filed their lawsuit against Peter, claiming that he owes $422,000 in back rent, sales tax, and utility charges. They want him out of that space ASAP, but Peter is in court, asking for more time. In a recent filing, his lawyer argued, “From the inception of this action months ago, the parties have been in on-going negotiations over rent and deadlines for the same.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Peter has been slapped with lawsuits over his businesses. Cynthia sued him for $170,000 that she allegedly loaned him to help him secure a new nightclub in Atlanta. That never came to fruition. In 2022, he tried opening a nightclub called 1 Society but was evicted after the rent stopped getting paid. Peter was also facing a $450,000 tax lien. At this point, he’s probably spending more on legal fees than rent.
Peter and Bar One Miami are still waiting on a response from the court on whether they can get some extra time to pay the money owed before facing eviction. In the meantime, the bar and restaurant are open for business, in case you and your friends want to go and reenact the RHOP scene between Wendy and Mia.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT PETER IS FACING ANOTHER LAWSUIT? DO YOU THINK WENDY WAS WISE NOT TO GO INTO BUSINESS WITH PETER?
