MIAMI—It's almost like watching a boxing match. Except it's a competition for a project that will influence the cultural dynamic in South Beach for decades.

Portman CMC, a group that includes Portman Holdings and CMC Group, and South Beach ACE, a group featuring Tishman Hotels Group and Robert Wennett, are duking it out in a media tit for tat. Although the PR wars have been ongoing, South Beach ACE threw down the gauntlet last week after Portman changed its mind on tearing down the Jackie Gleason Theater as part of its Miami Beach Convention Center redevelopment plans.

“The type of major changes that the Portman team is now proposing to their plan raises serious questions about whether they really have an understanding of the site, and whether they have been listening to the needs and wishes of the community and the convention center stakeholders since the beginning of this process in the same way we have,” South Beach ACE's statement last week said.