A developer quietly paid Miami Mayor Francis Suarez at least $170,000 over the past two years to help cut through red tape and secure critical permits for his stalled real estate project in Coconut Grove, according to internal corporate records exclusively obtained by the Miami Herald.

Notes of company meetings held last summer and fall by the development firm Location Ventures indicate that CEO Rishi Kapoor was having difficulties getting plans approved for his URBIN Coconut Grove complex as he tried to assure jittery investors that Suarez would help resolve the problem.

The meeting notes, which were provided to investors to appease their frustrations over repeated delays on the $70 million mixed-use project, made his role clear: “Mayor Suarez to assist in pushing this along.”

According to records, Kapoor then met with Suarez and City Manager Art Noriega last summer to discuss a zoning hurdle that, without a waiver, would have required an expensive and time-consuming redesign for the developer.

The internal company records provide details, for the first time, of Suarez’s private work for the developer while he held public office at City Hall — raising legal and ethical questions about the relationship between his role as mayor and his job as a developer’s consultant.